Learn from the mistakes of others

the main reason i loved ally mcbeal was it portrayed lawyers as people with character. quirky, oddball, weirdo character. sure most lawyers are not. many are the stereotypical stuffy, boring, conservative types who get on with the job.

i'm really not one of those.

ally mcbeal also showed that you don't have to be a boring prat to be an effective professional. many of the characters were so dysfunctional at times that it was amazing that they functioned at all. but, function they did.

i have been watching* an interesting canadian sci-fi show, regenesis. one of the characters, the team biochemist, is an aspie. he's good at biochemistry. and the team generally handle his aspiness well. [unlike my experiences] so guys, where else in the media do we, or have you, seen people with asperger syndrome being portrayed in any way?

anyway, i'm not an ally mcbeal character [this should be obvious, but i'm making sure ;)] - but i do have my quirks. i'm not exactly your regular, corporate lawyer-type - but i never pretended that i was ever going to be one. i am, however, very good at the kind of legal analysis that most of my peers are/were not. i'm certainly good at 'chasing rabbits down holes' [a metaphor i've heard often from lawyers]. i'm persistent, i pay attention to detail, and i don't like having loose ends. i chase down every problem and track it back to it's source - it's rabbit hole if you will.

obsoletechild recently suggested that if i were a fictional character, i'd be the white rabbit from alice in wonderland [though she hasn't said why :)]. this has me wondering if perhaps i'm too worried about the passage of time, and 'getting somewhere' - needing to be someplace. it's certainly something that has come to mind recently. on one hand, i am concerned that i may never get a job that challenges me, or pays what i'm worth. on the other, i'm not desperate for a mortgage and all that either.

but i do want to feel like i have a balanced life, where i do something worthwhile for a living (a real living, not this extended scraping and making do) and have the means to do the things so many other people take for granted. [like paying bills when they're due, rather than having to negotiate everytime. or buying lunch occasionally. or, i dunno, buying new clothes more than once a year.]

being aspie doesn't mean i can't do the job. it just seems to mean that i simply don't get hired to do it. and that's just bloody frustrating. i'm sick of working for free. as a volunteer i've handled real budgets, partaken in serious decisions, and rebuilt organisations. why the fuck can't i get paid to do that? [on my resume my list of volunteer work is longer than my employment list. i think i've done enough of that for now.] so. no more helping out. you want my help, you can damn well pay for it.

i may be quirky, but that don't mean i don't need to get paid.

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* by watching, i mean we've dl the eps and watched them. their being aired in canada, not here yet. the 'net is so cool.