Thankful

As cliche as it may be this time of year, I am thankful for...

• My family
• BH
• Friends that call when I fail to do so, remind me that I am thought of and loved, and who support me without question
• The ability to walk, hear, see, talk... you get the picture.
• Having lived to an age that has just now allowed me to have enough perspective to realize how very lucky I am
• Having a job that I enjoy and that supports me and my bad shoe habits
• On that topic... shoes!
• My newly acquired Fort Worth Public Library card
• bug spray
• hair spray
• toothpaste
• Martha Stewart's freedom (I don't know how I survived with her locked up)
• email
• cable television
• Sonic sodas
• as much as I complain about politics and bureaucracy, I am so thankful that I live in a country that allows me to do that complaining and that protects me even though I complain.

There are other things that I am thankful for, but this is a good sampling. I am particularly thankful that I have so much to be thankful for.

Occupation Anniversary

Sunday, November 6, will mark the 3 year anniversary of my admission to the State Bar of Texas. In other words, I've officially been an attorney for 3 years. I thought I would take this moment to reflect on what I have learned...

1. You are not meant to remember what you learned in law school. You only hope that having heard the information from someone intelligent at one point will make the information more understandable now.

2. No one likes an attorney... until they need one. And then we're your best friend.

3. Jokes about attorneys are often humorous and seldom true.

4. Movies and television shows about attorneys are even less true than the jokes about attorneys.

5. Most of what an attorney has to offer you is time. We sell a service that isn't quite tangible. This, unfortunately, makes people think they are getting ripped off.

6. Attorneys give more time and money to charity than any other group I have ever encountered. I still cannot figure out why everyone thinks attorneys are scum. Very few attorneys are scum.

7. People expect an attorney to know everything about all of the law. The fact that I went to law school should have prepared me to draft wills, sell property, defend you if you rob someone, get your divorce papers, and explain the McDonald's coffee case. Most attorneys can only do one, if any, of these things.

8. 99% of the time you will save money if you consult an attorney before you do something that you aren't "real sure" is the legal thing to do. We are much more efficient when we have the opportunity to prevent legal problems rather than fix them.

9. Most attorneys, unfortunately, talk to their clients like they are attorneys. This helps no one. Attorneys usually can't even understand each other, so a client definitely can't understand their attorney.

and finally...

10. I am very lucky to be in an occupation that allows me to help people. I have learned that being an attorney means helping people who are usually in a pretty bad place and need someone to take that burden for them. That is rather satisfying at the end of the day.