Here's an interesting phenomenom that I have observed on this blog but I have not experienced AT ALL in real, offline life. Commenters will say "You're a lawyer and . . ." Here's a sample from a post on gay marriage:
You are a lawyer? Oh, jeez, give me a break.
If you were a lawyer, you would know that marriage (in the civil sense) is whatever the civil authorities declared marriage to be.
Apparently the commenter thought my reference to the fact that the Catholic church instructed its followers to be against civil gay marriage meant I didn't understand civil marriage at all. In that post, I actually don't take a posiition on gay marriage but wonder about the long term changes.
But I digress. I often get comments, emails, whatever, that start like this. The gist is usually either that if I'm a lawyer, I should agree with their opinion, which they see as so glaringly obvious or that I should engage in an intense debate on a topic of their choosing, under the ground rules they choose. This morning, I got an email accusing my response as being childlike. (My response was along the lines of "you;re not understanding this and I don't have time to explain." I'm not quite sure how an adult gets to say that but because I'm a lawyer, there ws an epectation that, rather than being dismissive, I should provide indepth analysis. (Ever notice how being dismissive never dismisses anyone. They just stick around anyway.)
Now although all of this is a little annoying, what really causes it to take up space in my brain is that it happens repeatedly but only on the blog. If I'm sitting in a bar having a drink, no one challenges my comment with "you're a lawyer."
Posted by Justene Adamec at February 22, 2004 07:43 AM | TrackBackI used to get that all the time on Usenet. Then it was even dumber, as I posted under my real name and anyone could have looked that name up on the CA or AZ bar web site to verify that yup, I'm a lawyer after all.
Posted by: Xrlq at February 22, 2004 10:00 AM (Permalink)The whole commenting experience is incredibly interesting, especially in the blog world, as I have seen a level of cruelty and rottenness permeate much of the arena. I used to have more faith in the future of our country, but especially the rancor of the gay marriage debate (NOT the issue itself) has given me pause.
Posted by: Joel B. at February 22, 2004 04:56 PM (Permalink)Occasionally, in my real life, I get dispirited by the fact that everyone gets to have an opinion in the area that I've made a career and have seriously studied for over two decades. Everybody else has an opinion about, say, sexual harassment or gay marriage or etc., and they get to defend their opinion with raw emotion and raw ignorance untouched by any reflection or reading. Of course, when I express a similar attitude on the proper treatment of viruses or how to construct bridges, every one seems to think that my like of expertise is a hindrance.
But then I realize, hey, this is America. It's the great thing about our country that everyone gets to be a part of the system that creates the laws under which we live. Everyone should have opinions. They should also be willing to admit that their attitudes may be uninformed and, concomittantly, be willing to learn. At least that was my attitude until our betters started systematically disqualifying people with my beliefs from participation in society. But that's a topic for another day.
Posted by: Peter Sean Bradley at February 22, 2004 09:57 PM (Permalink)Just last night, I got the "you're a lawyer and..." treatment from two different people in two different email exchanges, advancing mutually inconsistent theories on gay marriage, the U.S. Constitution and the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment. Both individuals favor gay marriage themselves. One expected me, being a lawyer, to agree that it is obvious that the existing Constitution guarantees a right to gay marriage. The other expected me, being a lawyer, to agree that we don't need an FMA because it is obvious that the existing Constitution does not guarantee a right to gay marriage.
Posted by: Xrlq at February 25, 2004 12:11 PM (Permalink)Doesn't it reduce to "you're a lawyer, and therefore I'm right"? But of course, this is a near-paraphrase of what Justene said.
Posted by: Little Miss Attila at February 28, 2004 01:40 AM (Permalink)