Lessons in Humble Pie

As a parent, college educator, husband, middle child, retiree, etc. I have had my share of humble pie.  It's calorie free and oh so dislodging. Like everyone, I deserve comeuppances and getting knocked down a few notches.

But (of course, a but was coming) . . . today marks a high or low point in my diet.

I just completed a draft of my first law review manuscript after having retired from Penn State.  I intend on continuing to make contributions to the academic literature and recently received the honorific title of Academy Professor, in recognition of my ongoing work.  This 15,000 word manuscript took six months to prepare, and some of the comprehensive footnotes required hours of research, writing, and editing.  

I am proud of the work.  Imagine my surprise when not more than 20 minutes transpired before I received my first rejection.

The law review submission process involves the use of a monopoly platform intermediary that handles the formatting and online delivery of manuscripts to editors of law reviews.  Unlike in other disciplines, law review authors submit the same work to multiple prospective publishers.  Younger, ambitious law professors strategize how to get an offer from the best possible publisher.  The intermediary platform operator, known as Scholastica, encourages the maximum number of submissions and offers to notify editors when authors seek expedited consideration, because they have an offer in hand and hope to secure one from a more prestigious journal.

This automated process saves time, but requires payment for each delivery.  I took great pains to draft a compelling abstract and the all important "pitch letter." How disappointing to receive a rejection in less time that it would have taken to read the abstract and pitch letter.  Adding insult to injury, and humble pie volume, the rejecting journal had previously published one of my articles.

Are law review editors relying on artificial intelligence to process and make a judgment about manuscripts?  Could the rejecting journal management, with or without computerized help, make a publication decision based on the title of the manuscript?  Maybe.

In any event, as I increasingly fade away, I at least can feel proud that I have a new lifetime achievement in humble pie.

Tolerating Hubris at the New York Times

            While I am in the tilting at windows and then giving up mood (see entry on how Instagram will not help eliminate an impostor: http://telefrieden.blogspot.com/2020/07/what-do-facebook-and-outdoor-swimming.html), let us consider my multi-decade experience notifying the New York Times of unquestionable publishing errors.

            For some unknown reason, my bucket list includes persuading the Times to acknowledge a publication error about which I informed them.  I have identified five errors, most recently a report on a United Kingdom government Covid-19 employment subsidy reported as being paid in Euros, not Pounds.  See  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/12/business/the-week-in-business-what-a-biden-economy-could-look-like.html and scroll down to Looking to Britain.

            Other reported errors include:

The use of interbank exchange rates minus 2% for estimating tourist costs while traveling abroad by numerous article in the Sunday Travel section;

A report in the March 1, 2020 Sketchbook that the MEV-1 satellite repair vehicle will latch onto the Intelsat 901 bird for a few day and not the anticipated five years; see https://www.northropgrumman.com/space/space-logistics-services/mission-extension-vehicle/; https://spacenews.com/northrop-grummans-mev-1-servicer-docks-with-intelsat-satellite/;  https://spacenews.com/northrop-grummans-mev-1-servicer-docks-with-intelsat-satellite/;

The failure to update national average gas prices to reflect a 30+ cent drop during the severe economic downturn as the pandemic took effect; and

The failure to update the sea water temperature chart in the weather section (a March, 2020 trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina had temps in the 60s not 50s as reported).

            The Times never acknowledged any of the mistakes.  I did have one instance where staffer, with righteous indignation, reported the use of the “official” interbank rate as discounted 2%.  I tried to explain that private travelers never get a bank rate, much less a further 2% reduction.  But of course what would I possible know that this guy did not already know?  Some time later, the Times stopped reporting the actual exchange rate used to estimate a tourist costs. 

            Over the years I have reduced by Times bucket list goal from a published op-ed, to an official correction prompted by my notification.  This small dose of humble pie reminds me of a life lesson: Lower your expectations.  Lower them a second time and be pleasantly surprised that things turn out better than anticipated.

            Good advice.