Another conversation with the old person:
Old Person: So what do you do at your job? Do you run the typewriter?
Me: No, I use a computer. I do legal research and writing. On a computer.
Old Person: So you just do paperwork?
Me: Not exactly. I look up cases and other legal information on the internet, and I draft opinions and stuff like that.
Old Person: That's kind of weird. When nurses go to nursing school, they practice doing the kinds of things they'll do as nurses, but you're just doing paperwork, which isn't what lawyers do.
Me: Actually, lawyers do a lot of legal research and writing like I do.
Old Person: Well, lawyers talk a lot. Are you sure you can be a lawyer? You'll have to talk a lot more if you become one.
Me: It kind of depends on what kind of law I decide to practice. Many lawyers spend a fair amount of time sitting in their offices and doing legal research and writing, not talking.
Old Person: Well I think you should become a paralegal. Then you wouldn't need to talk.
2 comments:
How funny...being a paralegal seems to be the pinnacle of the job pyramid in the mind of this old person friend of yours.
By the way, I was excited to hear that you're coming out to visit in a couple of weeks.
I wonder if it has something to do with gender expectations. I think if I were a man she wouldn't have a problem with me being a lawyer, but I suspect that she thinks women should be paralegals and nurses, rather than lawyers and doctors.
And I'm excited that I'm coming to visit too.
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