I want my good friends there, but inviting everybody is a bit of a stretch. Because my field is hot this year, I got a dozen interviews at the Modern Language Association convention. But I have friends who haven't done nearly as well, and I dread their questions. I don't want to make others feel bad, or have them envy me, or tempt fate by making too much of my good fortune. If Ms. Mentor has any young, idealistic readers, no doubt they'll be shocked by what these two epistles reveal.
Some professors are also vain, and many are gluttonous.
And some of the most secure senior professors even flaunt their nasty little drives in public, behaving like Machiavelli, Casanova, or Beavis and Butt-Head. In or out of the ivory tower, there are in and out groups, winners and oafs. Being hired and being tenured are not unlike courtship and marriage. The parties have a nervous initial meeting, and after a while they agree to a match, despite the risks. Or she can elope.