Today I had a real lousy day in the office. It was bad from the word go, when I woke up still tired from having gone to bed at 2.30 the night before. But nothing would have prepared me for the vicious attack to come in the afternoon.

That was SK, reacting badly that I had put her down for a job I told her there was no need to cover, two days ago. The scary thing is that I had no memory of telling her so, though I remember mentioning it, and her protesting it was no big deal. She confirmed with the people around her that I had indeed said there was no need to go and then she said it. Raised her voice and told me I needed help and I better seek help because I was affecting all their work. That I had done the same thing to another reporter earlier that week and I needed help.

I was really stunned. I sat at my desk and thought she was right; if my memory was so bad that I was letting reporters down, then I did need help. Who can function with a boss that flip flops from one day to the next? I sent her an email apologising and promised to write all communications down in the future.

I really was upset. What if I had early onset dementia? Or a brain tumour? She'd really thrown me for a loop with that one. But the more I thought about it, the more I was convinced it was an unfair and uncalled for attack. It was a childish and clumsy playground tantrum. Sure, I may have forgotten twice in a week but how often had it happened?? Not often at all! And we deskers have so much on our plates that it's not unusual for us to forget stuff. What she was right about was that I should fix it, and from now on I'll carry a notebook around. But to say I needed medical help was just a mean and nasty thing to say. RB actually came to my desk to tell me not to let SK undermine my confidence and that it was far more important to be an open person one could talk to. It was a kindness I won't forget.

Then later SK came to apologise and I made no issue of it. But when I told J that night, he wanted to call her immediately and give her a piece of his mind. I said there was no need -- she had reacted out of anger and frustration, and indeed it is frustrating to have a boss who keeps changing her mind. I hope keeping notes will render this moot.