Just finished watching 'Boy A'- a brilliant channel 4 drama about a 24 year old young man, just out of prison after 14 years, after being put away for murdering a young girl, and how he copes readjusting to living in society with a new identity. It was very connected to the Jamie Bulger case. Very unnerving, but compelling and very upsetting. Being a sensitive soul, I had to switch onto Michael McIntyre Live at the Apollo afterwards to counteract the sadness I felt at the end of the programme, as well as the effects of something I saw earlier on in the day that disturbed me somewhat. There had been an accident on North Street in Brighton today and I was unfortunate enough to have to walk past the scene and saw something I wish I hadn't. Luckily, Sadie remained oblivious. So thanks to Michael McIntyre I have ended my rather dark day with a few belly laughs. I don't like to go to bed feeling glum.

It's War!

Oh my god. I am having an email slagging match with a complete stranger and all because I applied for a writing job. She seems as though, and I know emailing can misconstrue things a bit, she's a total cow and shouldn't have a job whereby she has to deal with people. Here are the interactions below- see for yourself. I'm tempted to cut and paste them and send them onto her boss- I have all her details. What do you think readers?

Hi Alison
I hear you are in need of a child-friendly freelance writer for your
project for Ouseburn Valley Children's Heritage Guide and I am very interested in helping you out. I am a freelance writer for magazines and also write children's stories, as well as having a child of my own to bring up, so let me know the details of what you are looking for and I'm sure I can provide you with exactly what you want. I look forward to hearing from you. Let me know if you need a C.V or
want to see my portfolio of writing work.
Thanks for your time
Cathy Swaby
Freelance Writer

Her response:
I'm sending you details, but to be honest, to our great deilight we've a lot
of great locally based applicants have come out of the woodwork and
we'll probably be choosing one of them - more practical for all concerned.
alison

Back to blog: Now is it just me (and I am someone who, as a writer, has had her fair share of work rejections- it's a big part of the territory) or is that slightly rude a response to a job application? Even broadsheet newspaper editors have had the time to respond more politely. I've worked in various personnel departments where I've dealt with job applicants, and I would never be so short with someone- I would at least thank them for getting in touch and say sorry but there isn't likely to be work available, I'll keep their details on file, etc etc. So I responded thus, and then the war began.....

>Thanks for letting me know but you could have been more polite about
it. I'm glad you're delighted you've found someone else but I'm not. I won't be
applying for the position as you have made it sound like it would be a
waste of my time. I suggest that next time someone is looking for work with you,
you appreciate the time they have taken to contact you and the fact that
they are looking for work and might be disappointed to learn that someone else
'got the job'. You may have not meant your email to be so abrupt but it
certainly came across that way.
> Cathy

So she said:

hi cathy, dear me, how grumpy -if you've 50 enquiries to answer in
half an hour when you were expecting 5 the temptation is to delete them all.
sounds like that would have suited you better. i was actually trying to save
you the trouble of applying by writing to you, so think of it that way.. right,
that's enough of a waste of time for us both.
alison

Back to blog: Bloody bitch!! Now do I forward this correspondence to her boss? Lines are open now so get voting....