17 October 2005

Monday mutterings

Ok, O'Sullivan cruised through to yesterday's final, only to be crushed by John Higgins... Oh well, if anyone was going to beat my hero, John Higgins at least is probably the most sympathetic bloke on the entire tour. (No, I never said O'Sullivan was that. I just hinted I liked him best regardless..)

And now for something completely different.

I work with a bunch of criminal lawyers. (Haha, cheap pun... Defense lawyers, of course!) Most of them are just as nice as the next man - or nicer, there's a lot of fun and generally a nice 'climate' at work. But then there's always the odd man out. Or woman. Whatever...

The thing is, this person seems not to want anything to do with non-lawyers. Us staff, or clients, even, are just a necessary evil. It seems. If our time is spent waiting - more often than not without any messages as to how long this will last - that's irrelevant. Like NN said: 'I always finish on time! Even if I start half an hour late...' But how could we know? And how can s/he know whether we might have other plans? It annoys the h#! out of me - and s/he won't really communicate with non-lawyers off work either. Even when talking about our kids / holidays / films we've seen etc. - you'd think education wasn't an issue? But yes.

I mean, I've got 6 years of university training as well, only I didn't spend them in law school. But even without this education - does working as a clerk mean I'm worth less? Wouldn't you think I was at least worth gabbing to?

A friend of mine works in this law firm too. This summer there were only four of them working - three lawyers and her. Their boss invited them over one night - the lawyers, that is - with spouses. Maybe to discuss legal matters?? Well, the next morning, her boss went on and on about how the others would be late, how much fun they'd had, etc. Yeah, rub it in, my friend thought...

But was she, perhaps, being overly sensitive? Are we both? Are we less interesting people and need to live with this attitude? I'm not saying they're not allowed to talk law with other lawyers, I just thought - you know, social talk was for everyone...

To be honest, though - most of them do talk to anyone, with ease, and even seem to enjoy it. I just had to spill my guts...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe h/s is insecure. Not that that means you have to forgive or forget. Highly annoying type, but found in all walks of life. Unfortunately, some people have to find something to feel superior about. Hope it doesn't spoil the job you like so much.

Sam said...

It's the way we define ourselves, though, isn't it - it depends where you see your identity coming from.

If your identity comes from the fact that you're a lawyer and you expect everyone else to respect that then you start to feel insecure about it.

I had this gay friend who for the first 3/4 years after he came out was just so over the top and obnoxious - but he was insecure. If you took away the fact that he was gay you were left with the shell of a person.

These things are like crutches for people who don't know who they really are.

Anonymous said...

The reason I stopped practicing law was I was sick of being surrounded by lawyers. The personality type drawn to the trade seemed to contain more than its share of a******s. Glad for you the rest of the office, at least, treats staff decently.

PS -- love the music!