I had a bad experience related to legal writing once. To me, it was an awful, sickening experience. But to put it in context, I offer the following list of the worst experiences of my life:

1. Death of my father.

2. Divorce.

3. Aftermath of divorce.

4. [Undisclosed personal matter.]

5. School-related matter involving one of my children.

6. Illness of one of my children.

7. [Undisclosed professional matter.]

* * *

12. Accident in which I broke my wrist, arm, and pelvis.

* * *
17. First call-back interview for a law-firm job.

* * *

21. Being a landlord.

22. Clearing up a rat infestation at a rental house. See #21.

* * *

28. Brake failure in a car.

* * *
31. Discussing my plain-language revisions to a set of jury instructions before an advisory committee.

Someday I promise to write about the 31st worst experience of my life.

(Note: despite the rather dark content of this post, I was actually trying to be funny once I got past the first 6. Fail?)