I have a personal assistant named Mary who is mentally retarded, short and chubby. She keeps talking all the time and doing things wrong, like holding the shampoo bottle upside down and not noticing the shampoo is running out all over her clothes. I ask her to help me take a bath. I am in the tub in my clothes, she has gotten my wallet wet and is trying to fix it and she is nonstop talking. I finally say to her, "Damn it, Mary, you're fired. I know you mean well and you're a hard worker, but you keep making mistakes." She gets in the tub with me and is trying hard to convince me not to fire her. I insist she get out. Finally I call Nancy in, who is visiting. She and Charlene are out in the living room talking. I explain to Nancy why I'm firing Mary and ask her to get her out of my tub. Nancy says, "OK," gets her out and then says, "I'm not the one to be telling this to." I agree, saying, "Sorry, I guess I was just ventilating." I wonder if this was such great timing, firing her when I was in the tub, a vulnerable spot for me. I also feel a bit concerned because now I have to find someone else. Maybe Charlene will work for me again. I think, "After all, she's been volunteering here for a while, so maybe she's got time again and wouldn't mind making $6 an hour." She is telling Nancy she just got one of her plays produced.