Looking back now, one of the things I detested from my day job was being assigned to construct programs for foreign artists whose sponsors deemed young and promising but who, to me, were absolute nobodies with mediocre talent yet who felt they should be treated like royalty. After all those years, though, how many of those artists really made it? Where are they now?

One other thing was taking care of political entourages comprised of cheapskates who expected me to wangle theater tickets, concert tickets, museum tickets, tours, and restaurant lunches and dinners from my contacts for free.

Both, to me, were, and still are, distasteful and disgusting, and I wonder how my successor feels about them himself or herself.