My worst nightmares

1. The moment at which I believed I had finally made it on to the same pay scale as my male counterpart (after many years of battling), only to find that he had been effortlessly moved up a grade.

2. The occasion on which I spent a full half hour penetrating the savage interior of a photocopier, emerged on my knees and came face to crutch with a colleague. I caught my foot in the hem of my skirt as I attempted to regain dignity and standing position, causing said skirt to fall, gracefully I hope, around my ankles.

Valerie Atkinson is departmental administrator at York University.

* Send tales of your worst nightmare to mandy.garner@thes.co.uk