Boy did I step in it with my twitter response to Anne-Marie Slaughter’s article in The Atlantic about women having it all.

For some reason it didn’t resonate with me and I made the mistake of saying so aloud. I am, apparently, the only one. I’ve always said that I’m the anti-taste maker, though. If you want to know if something will appeal to the popular masses? Ask me if I hate it. If I do? You’ve got a hit on your hands. But I didn’t hate this article; it simply does not speak to me in a way that’s particularly revelatory.

I don’t know if that is a function of class, race or — as I’m beginning to suspect — having been raised by Vivian. Whatever it is the premise of the expecting to have it “all” was not one I ever, ever, ever had. I had a narrative so different instilled in me that it’s almost comical to re-tell it. Suffice to say, I was to work hard, do my best, but always know that deck was stacked against me. “All” wasn’t even a thing, much less a goal.

You could get lucky in life and get “less sh*t” or get unlucky and get “more sh*t.” “No sh*t” simply wasn’t an option.

Having said that, the lovely Terri Givens has written about her experience with the idea of “having it all.”

ETA: When you say “having it all” I hear this.