Hard Ass

This ass sets the bar, and then, sensing you might actually reach it, raises it mid-attempt and calls the whole maneuver encouragement. Good enough is a phrase they have never once used without air quotes. They do not hand out praise; they issue it, rarely, like a central bank defending a currency. Working for them is a trial by fire that produces, against all odds and considerable resentment, the best work of your life. You will hate it. You will hate them. Then, years later, you will hear their voice in your head raising the bar yet again, and you will, God help you, be grateful. A tyrant of standards, and, infuriatingly, almost always right.