There is very little more disgusting to me than professional class people who talk about how hard they worked. Whatever you did was not harder than cleaning hotel rooms, or roofing, or washing dishes or whatever
— luke (@lukeoneil47) October 4, 2019
Ok, this is more of a rant than advice about Illinois work injuries. I recently overheard a lawyer boasting about how hard they work. In fact they were saying that they work harder than any of their clients. Stuff like that makes me fume. Who do these people think they are?
Yes lawyers work hard. Yes going to college involves work as does law school.
But is that work harder than the summer I had washing dishes in a busy restaurant. Harder than when I waited tables at Bennigans on the lunch shift and then worked as a bus boy at Ravinia for the dinner shift six days a week? Hell no.
And nothing I’ve personally done is harder work than laborers who are lifting 50-100 pounds all day for 20+ years. No work I’ve done is more difficult than being a teacher in charge of 30 kids in a classroom (I substitute taught for one day back in law school and never slept as well as that night). It’s not “harder work” to prepare for a trial than it is to be at the same job every day by 5:30 a.m. and on your feet until 5 p.m. There isn’t free time to search the internet, call a friend, have a long lunch, etc.
Most attorneys I know are normal people and not pompous. But man there are a lot of attorneys and other white collar professionals who don’t know how good they have it. These same people equate wealth with intelligence. They feel superior for having a graduate degree. Some were born on third base and think they hit a triple.
I respect everyone who grinds. What I don’t respect are people who aren’t self aware and don’t respect others. It’s like hearing an actor talk about how difficult their job is. I’m sure they put in long hours and are talented, but to whine about it is a joke. No attorney I know would give up their desk job for one that caused their back to kill by the end of the day. When they talk about how hard their job is, many of them mean it’s boring and they are stuck because they can’t do anything else.
I think this is what attracted me to work comp in the first place. Most of the people I get to talk to are salt of the earth, hard workers who just want to get better and back to their job. I rarely come across an arrogant jerk. My clients aren’t entitled.
That’s my rant for the day. I’ll be back to normal blog posting in a couple of days.
