Certainly Was Interesting in Book Four: Ichi-no-Tani 2017

Thursday turned out to be certainly an interesting day in many respects.

As I already detailed, my day had already had quite a stir of activity before I even got in to work.
6:30 I woke, showered. 7:00 I went to the drycleaners to get clothes. 7:30 I came back home to change INTO those clothes 7:45 I went to Wal Greens to get Rx and $10. 8:00 Commuted to work 8:30 Went to the bank to have $10 changed into quarters.

Got into the office… my office was… weird. It had folders and phones and other things rather… strewn about. I moved the things that I had no concept of. Then checked my e-mail. Nothing. So I was supposed to have 2 different immigration items completed but… my boss hasn’t reviewed or responded to either of them. K? Then I check court filings. FINALLY the prosecutor on one of my cases dropped the Domestic Violence charge to “Disturbing the Peace.” THANK YOU! But… wait… we had a hearing today about the No Contact Order. And the hearing is a two hour drive. Do I still need to do that? I called the judge, the clerk of courts, the prosecutor… nobody knew or could tell me if we were still going to have a hearing. SO… better to be there and not be needed as opposed to not being there and being needed.

At around 9:30, bosses come in. Chinese Boss wants to know if I am finished with the Drafting Assignments. I scoff and tell her no. She shuts my office door and starts trembling she is so frustrated. She gets into me about “time management” and the like. I clap back this time. “You told me to get you ITEM 1 first, then ITEM TWO, Part 1. You were going to provide feedback and I’d go from there. White Boss and I both told you that you hadn’t provided feedback to ITEM 1 yesterday afternoon. And when you hadn’t given feedback to ITEM TWO, Part 1… knowing the deadline, I went ahead and sent you my work on ITEM TWO, Part 2 as well. And as you hadn’t given me any feedback on any of that yet… I started ITEM TWO, Part 3 this morning as well.” Her response was to stay frustrated and tell me I need to communicate better with her. If I am waiting for feedback from her, it is my responsibility to make sure I ask her about it if she doesn’t give it to me. So let me see if I understand… you tell me specifically that you want to check my work one part at a time. I send you my work one part at a time, and inform you that I’ve sent it. You don’t give me feedback. So it is my responsibility to remind you that you need to give me feedback when the whole “Feedback part by part” scheme was entirely your idea? To add to that… you are telling me that it is my responsibility to remind you of your own stated policy but earlier this week when I asked for clarification on something; you got frustrated and took the whole project out of my hands? Seriously… you is a mess, lady.

After that, I went ahead and sent her ITEM TWO, Part 3 anyway. BECAUSE… yeah, you wanted all four parts done today? You haven’t given me any feedback? My work around was to keep doing the project because the project being finished for the client takes precedent. Whether it is done the way YOU WANT or even THE RIGHT WAY. Which is where Bosses and I disagree. They think that if I turn something into them and it isn’t done right, I am shitty. Meanwhile, I think that if I turn something into them and it is ON TIME and COMPLETE, then (as supervising attorneys of a new-ish lawyer) they can instruct me on what I did wrong.

After sending ITEM TWO, Part 3… I got on the road for my hearing two hours away. But about 45 minutes into the drive, I got so tired I had to pull over. Still sick, y’know, and productive coughing like a sinusy mucus factory. Pulling over gave me the opportunity to check my phone. FINALLY the prosecutor contacted me… the prosecutor for the case I was DRIVING TO. To tell me… yeah, I didn’t need to come. Now, here’s the thing. This is another reason why Private Practice Scheme suuuucks for someone who wants to take care of a family. Technically, theoretically, practically… I was counting on this hearing. Two hours there, thirty minute trial, two hours back… that is (literally) $135.00 for me. Granted I am using my car so maintenance and fuel costs cut away from that $135… but still… that is a considerable amount of money for someone who is making around $600 a week. So, I turned around… drove back to the office.

ITEM 1 had finally been responded to. That is the thing where Chinese Assistant was asked to look it over and I was yelled at because I hadn’t spent enough time on it… before she had even read it. Well… the majority of the changes I made were… an e-mail explaining everything I did to the document so that Chinese Boss would know my thoughts and see my work. She loves it. Seriously? I mean… pragmatically, I get it. If you think something should take 10 hours and it only takes me 5 hours… that is $850 of Firm Money that we don’t get now (and $150 for me). But before you shit all over my work, could you read it first? Like… clearly my work was acceptable as it was. ::eye roll::

Then I was called into the Bosses’ office. They wanted to introduce me to a new hire… someone who wouldn’t start until April. Here’s… a glimpse of what is/has gone on. The two people who have been with them the longest to this point… Chinese Assistant and Muse… Chinese Assistant is done at the end of this year (Immigration Thing). His replacement has already been hired and set up to take over mid-December. Muse… the firm simply expects her to leave. Her boyfriend lives in Minnesota, and his family already acts like the two are married. Including, but not limited to, training her to take over the family restaurant. So… expecting her to leave us at some time… they’ve hired her replacement to start in April. Of course, them treating me like “Hey, meet this person we’ll be working with in 6 months” makes me feel… actually like a weak coward for trying to leave. Like… if I were a stronger person, I could make this job work. I could stand up for myself against my bosses, I could throw myself into my work and learn how to master it, I could climb whatever ladders exist and do whatever it took to try to be the best, highest earning Associate Attorney around. But after I think that? I honestly say… why bother? I mean, I get it. Attorneys are supposed to be Type A Hyper Active Focus Monsters who always want to be the best. But… that doesn’t actually fit with any of my goals or values. Like Graham Parker said in “This is Forty”… the key is to have a small nut. And after much trial and tribulation in my life… I’ve learned that I am okay with that advice. Hell, I love that advice. While I would love to have everything exactly as I always dreamed it… that isn’t as important to me now. What is important to me is sharing my life with others. Spending time with my friends and family. Being able to take my wife on vacation (something that, truly, we’ve still never actually done… Weddings, Business Trips… but never a “hey, lets go somewhere for fun, just the two of us). I want to be able to say “Hey, this Saturday, lets go do an Escape Room” and not have to worry about my bosses asking me to go to Keokuk spur of the moment to be the White Guy Non-Chinese Speaker at some Chinese Society event.

Then just to make sure things were hilarious… I have finished all of ITEM 2 including some extra parts. I think there are some things missing from what Chinese Boss gave me, but I want to check. I also want to see if ITEM 2 is done or if there is still some more to do. Especially because it needed to be done by 4. She’s in a meeting from 1 to 3. So… while I waited for her… Chinese Assistant started cracking jokes… about how Chinese Boss was… just… a severe person. Like… how if she sees someone smiling, it can set her off… or how you could work your ass off, a client could fuck up, and she blames you. So in other words… even for someone who is Chinese… Chinese Boss is a bit much. Muse then piped up and discussed how Chinese Boss has asked her to take care of their house while they are away in China. SO… yeah. Using your employees like your Personal Assistants? And yeah… because it isn’t like “asking a friend to water your plants”… this is a boss saying “we have (service man) coming to the house; make sure that you’re there if he needs something.” Yeaaaaaah.

Being the “I’m a helper, dammit” that I am… after all of my work was finished and approved by Chinese Boss, I specifically asked “Is there anything else I can do to help you get cases wrapped up before you go?” The answer was no. Thus, one would assume, I could leave. BUT I know better. I know much better. Instead, like a child on the last day of school, I just sat around watching the clock wind down. Because while bosses are here… THEIR cases matter most. When they are gone… I can finally do some work on MY cases. Granted, I won’t be making hand over fist in money while they are gone since I won’t have to jump whenever they say to… but I also anticipate some relaxed state with their absence. AND… honestly, truly, not kidding at all.... I hope that City Attorney or Powerball pay off. lol