Thursday, October 23, 2008

Vigilante

I did my part to preserve the goodwill and ethics of the Louisiana State Bar Association today when I told off a guy who tried to sneak in front of me and another girl after taking a look at the ridiculously long registration line. I managed to do it without yelling or coming up with better things to say afterwards. Victory for me.

I just said "So, you're just going to walk right in front of us?" And he slunk away like a five-year-old. That's right babycakes.

Of all my people pet peeves (suck-ups, backstabbers, people who stop dead right in front of you for no apparant reason and then act like you're the asshole when you run into them, and overzealous rich kids from the northeast who always try to make you feel like shit just because your new age mommy and daddy didn't foot the bill for your law school education and so you can't work at pro bono associations founded by the older versions of the same people who try to make you feel like shit),* the one I simply cannot tolerate is line-cutting. This was really an issue for me in France, and could often result in me coming home in fits of rage that only a nutella and bleu cheese sandwich could quell.

It's the whole "I'm just going to put aside any semblence of courtesy because I have no concept of anyone's needs besides my own" idea and I can't help but notice that people who do this tend to be jerks in the larger scheme as well. And we have enough jerks who are lawyers. I wish more people were brave enough to nip that shit in the bud instead of just nod approvingly wjen I do. Maybe then 400-pound people wouldn't try to run me over with wheelchairs.

Today was a crappy day all around anyway. Nothing I could put my finger on, but... Insomnia's hit again, even though I was told Ambien CR would be "better." Um, no - and it's actually $110 more expensive and I'm on a high deductible plan so...I get to the pharmacy and they tell me I have to wait until my doctor authorizes it with the insurance because they need to know why he prescribed it. Perhaps they have been reading this blog a little too closely. To sleep, you idiots!

But just little things, and not even tinged with hilarity like the other night when one of those enormous wine pyramid displays spontaneously toppled over as we all goggled at it, and then had the pleasure of hearing the guy on the intercom say "Can someone bring a mop? Or, like, a lot of mops?".

They're things that I normally would see the humor in. Like how Louisiana drivers have a love-hate relationship with turn signals, and how the secretaries I get stuck with in the elevator on my way to the ivory tower are so good at catty gossip. Or they way my umbrella won't fit in the narrow alleyway between my house and the next, and my shirt never seems to stay tucked in, or how it rains when I need to look polished and together and how annoyed I get at how brusque a co-worker can be and then how she realizes it and tries to be nice which makes me feel bad for being annoyed at her brusqueness. And how "Sophie's Choice" is not a good idea for a film to watch when you've read the book and already know how it's going to end but make yourself do it out of sense of feeling the need to see Meryl Streep speak Polish (and German).

But I'm tired, and just don't much feel like it. Maybe tomorrow morning.

*That was a long list. But I ran into about a gazillion examples of each today, so the material's fresh.

3 comments:

Nora said...

1) Congrats on the swearing in! Mine is on Monday.

2) Excellent line, very effective. Nice job. I hate line cutting, too, but I always end up standing there, sputtering. Or giving dirty looks.

3) I'd almost suspect you were referring to me in your list there, except that I'm by no means rich, I paid (or rather, borrowed) for my own law school education, and I've never tried to make you feel like shit (at least not on purpose). Plus! Thanks to the CCRAA, it's actually affordable (barely) to have a career in public interest law. But then, you said pro bono associations; I'm not quite sure what that is other than, like, a referral service through the state bar. Personally, I'm against the proliferation of the notion that pro bono could replace actual, experienced, professional legal representation for the poor and low-income clients. It's outrageous.

4) Love the mop story.

5) Hope you're doing well!

Star Kicker said...

No, trust me Nora -- it's the people who accuse you of judging and lacking empathy when they haven't given you the chance to do either. I mean, I'm allowed to care about other people AND make money. And not apologize for the gorgeous figure I cut in a nicely tailored suit. I worked for that too.

Of course, the nice twist is that my firm always has the fanciest tables at their functions. I got to meet John Grisham the other night. So, there is karma after all. Ha.

Not that I'm bitter or anything. Come visit!

steetoa said...

Congratulations on the official swearing-in business! must feel great to be done. I still can't imagine being in school for 3 solid years.