Nursing - Perhaps the Most Honorable Profession of All

I read an article in the New York Times which said people who help others by deeds are happier than those who give money. I am not surprised. I recently found myself uncharacteristically hospitalized in an emergency, non-life-threatening situation.  While the care was fabulous, the people who helped me most were not the fine doctors, but were the dedicated and hard-working nurses. The nurse who gave me the majority of care was Julia Hartman of St. Luke's East Hospital, was a godsend.  

The nurses comforted me.  They constantly asked if I needed anything. They were concerned that I experience the least amount of pain possible. They were warm, smiling and comforting. They executed their increasingly technical talents with skill and compassion. No task was beneath them, no task left them daunted.  

The nurses provided me the comfort and encouragement I needed.  They are filled with energy and humanity for the 12 long hours of each shift. The man in the room next to me shrieked, "Get away!" all night.  Yet the nurses continued providing care and compassion to the most difficult among us.  

When I was in college, I did not want a "traditionally female" job, like nurse, or teacher, or secretary.  How foolish and immature of me.  Nurses and others provide us with care and comfort.  Teachers educate us and our children and are instrumental in the future of humanity.  Secretaries make sure that businesses run. 

I can think of no more valuable profession than nursing.  We work them long  hours  for completely inadequate pay in light of their training, skill, and responsibility.  The nurses at St. Luke's East were angels to me. No matter my pain level or discomfort, they were their to reassure me and heal me. They were smart, warm, and efficient. I am proud of my nieces who will join their ranks. 

Their is no more honorable profession than nursing. Thank you Julia Hartman.  You are a wonderful person. 

Psychodrama - The Action Method in Kindergarten

When I went to the Trial Lawyers College in 1994, I had never heard of psychodrama. In the First several days, I learned a lot. John Nolte, a preeminent psychodramatist, showed us how re-enacting events and role-reversals can rock your world. Psychodrama was developed by Dr. J. L. Moreno, an Austrian physician for psychological therapy. He emigrated to the United States in the early Twentieth Century and set up psychodrama centers.  Moreno described psychodrama as "truth in action."   Trial lawyers use psychodrama to prepare for trial, to find out their clients' truths.

I was captivated by the transformative effects of psychodrama and actively pursued training. I learned about myself and others. I learned to value and develop empathy and compassion. I learned to listen to others and to understand my clients, the witnesses in cases and others.  I gained experience in psychodramatic techniques and went so far to become a certified practitioner, through study and practice and I believe I have benefited wildly from the experience.

I have considered the benefits of psychodrama for me personally and as a lawyer, but I did not think about other possible applications until today.  My husband and I both volunteer in a kindergarten. The teacher is caring, intelligent and imaginative. Today, she told me she read her little students a story. First, she told them to shut their eyes while they listened. When she asked them to relay the story, they did not do well. She then had them listen to a story with their eyes open. They couldn't relay it well again. Next, she had them act out the story. They all had vivid recollections of the story and wrote amazing renditions. Most of these kids are 6 years old. Wow, psychodrama in kindergarten!

Too Old to Rock?

I remember when the Beatles sang "When I'm 64," never imagining they would ever get that old. The remaining members, Ringo and Paul, are older than that now.  As I get older,my views of what is old are changing. My grandmother retired from her factory job in her early 60's, only to go back to school to become an L.P.N. at the age of 63 when my grandfather died. We marveled at how someone so old could go back to school and do well.  She did do well, too, until she was forced to retire at age 70. In her last 9 years she never regained the vitality and drive she found in her 60's, deprived of the vocation she had loved in the short time she was able to flourish. 

When I first started handling discrimination cases, after the Civil Rights Act was amended in 1991 to allow jury trials, I figured I would handle these cases for ten years or so until unlawful discrimination was wiped out. I started out handling personal injury cases, for both plaintiffs and defendants.  Discrimination cases were more interesting to me, as a child of the 1960's and 1970's. In the early 90's, I didn't think much about age discrimination. It was sexual harassment and race discrimination that I found interesting. Not surprisingly, as I aged, I saw more age discrimination. But, I figured discrimination would be on the downswing by the turn of the century. I was naive. 

The federal government amended the Age Discrimination in Employment Act to eliminate the age 70 limit to discrimination, but the state of Missouri did not. With people living longer and longer, more and more people will want to continue to work after 70, especially after the demise of employer funded retirement plans for growing segments of society.  But employers are not always willing to accommodate the desires of older wannabe workers.  

If you are a federal judge or a U.S. Senator, you can expect gainful employment well into your 70's, or 80's or older. The remainder of U.S. employees are not so fortunate. If you are a man or woman in your 50's and seeking employment, you are pretty screwed in this country. I'm old, at 60, but I am fortunate to be self-employed. I profit from the misfortune of others my age, who aren't lucky enough to have their own businesses. 

It's true that some people are infirm and unable to work into advanced age. So are some younger people. However, in our beauty, youth-conscious culture we sometimes ignore those people who have learned much from life and have much yet to contribute.  I wonder what my grandmother might have accomplished if she was allowed to work as long as she was able. I doubt she would have succumbed to the crippling depression that plagued her in her final years. 

Now, when I look into a mirror, I am struck by the image of my grandmother staring back at me.  At 60, I, too, have gone back to school, mainly for fun. I am taking a physics course now since I skipped most sciences and math when I was young and an undergrad, and I am having a blast. I am a much better student now, since I am not caught up in planning my wedding and partying into the night. Right now, I am watching Mick Jagger on television, the oldest, coolest, weirdly sexiest old man rocker there is. He's way older than me. Aretha Franklin just got done singing, another senior citizen. She was on after B.B. King, who is closer to 90 than 80. 

Here's to the senior citizens!  Let them have some jobs!

Should You Go To Law School To Become a Trial Lawyer?

There are many reasons people go to law school, some make sense to me and others do not.  Some people come from a long line of lawyers and are expected to go.  That was not my case.  Some people want prestige, status, bragging rights, whatever will satisfy their egos. Unfortunately, I cannot claim those things mean nothing to me, but I am working on them.

Here are my top ten reasons to embark on the costly (in law school and in effort post-law school) path of being a trial lawyer:

1.  HELPING OTHERS.   

You get satisfaction from helping another person or serving a cause. 

2.  CREATIVITY.    

You love to have your creativity juices flowing - in looking at the story of your client's case.  In essence, you are creative.  

3. LOGICAL REASONING.   

You are logical.  Law, even scientific laws or principles, are inherently logical. You like working out puzzles and billing logical stories. 

4. RISK TAKER.   

You are willing to take significant risks.  When you are a trial lawyer, each case is a contest.  You must be willing to fight for your client and sometimes that means losing. A 400 batting average is great in baseball but piss-poor for a trial lawyer.  Your ego, and oftentimes your livelihood is on the line. And in every case, your duty is to your client first. 

5. EMPATHETIC LISTENER.   

You are empathetic and a good listener.  I could write on an on about he importance of compassion, not just for your client, but for all participants in the litigation process. If you just want to talk because of your tremendous ego, and you won't listen to others, you will have a hard time as a lawyer. 

6.  INTROSPECTIVE.   

You are introspective. You know what makes you tick so you don't get your emotions confused. You have to know and understand yourself before you can become empathetic. Knowing yourself can take a lot of work. 

7.  PERSISTENCE. 

You are persistent, with thick skin. Sometimes it can take 6 or 7 years to win a case, after appeals and whatnots. You cannot take things personally. You must be able to be above the fray to stay cool. 

8.  SELF-MOTIVATED. 

You are a self-starter.  This is part of the risk taking.  The best part, and perhaps the worst part of being a trial lawyer is you are likely to be your own boss or bring in your own cases. If you love not having a boss,  trial lawyer be the job for you. 

9. ENJOY SPEAKING.   

You enjoy speaking in public.  You have guts when you need to have them. You are willing to challenge authority. 

10.  DESIRE TO LEARN.  

You enjoy learning about new things and you love to read. Laws evolve. Cases can be about mechanics, pharmaceuticals, professional malpractice.  The law can be a fascinating place.  It can also be boring and stale. You need to be willing to take on the exciting jobs, even if they may pay less.

Notice,I didn't mention money. As a lawyer, you have the opportunity to make a lot of money.  But, there are a lot easier ways to make money. If money is what motivates you, become a defense contractor or investment banker. It will be less confusing. 

Interesting Graphic from Allison Morris about Women on the Web

Women and the Web: Why Internet Access Matters. - tap on the link below:

       

In a majority of western countries, women have a huge web presence, using it, on average, 17% more than men. In western Europe and most of North America, women tend to use social media more, they tend to shop online more, and most of them simply make up more website traffic than men. But in developing nations, with prohibited freedom, lower literacy rates, and lack of technological knowledge, many women are missing out on the Internet. In developing nations, while both genders tend to have more limited Internet connectivity than those in the west, there are still some very surprising discrepancies in how much more often men are able to access the web. In fact, in some extreme cases, as many as 70% of a nation’s men have accessed the web before, compared to just 14% of women. But when women are able to gain access to the Internet, they begin to do powerful things with it. Among women in developing nations, many of those who have been able to access the web have used it to find work, do research, and otherwise seek an additional income source for their families. The following infographic examines how now, more than ever, women in developing nations need the web.

Embed the image below on your site and Include Attribution to OnlineClasses.org

Women and the Web

THE THREE TYPES OF AMERICANS

It seems to me that in a society there are three typical prototypes:

1.  The Leaders;

2.  The rebels; and,

3.  The apathetic rest of society. 

Most people don't care about power or politics, or believe they have no power to change things.  They get by and concentrate on their own lives. This is probably what Nixon was referring to as the "silent majority."

Then, there are the over-achieving movers and shakers who have political or business ambitions and want to get to the top. Some may be very ethical, but some are not.  They love leading and most love power. In business, they are the Jack Welches and the Jamie Dimons.  In politics they are the Mitt Romneys and the Bill Clintonses.  They work within the rules to climb the ladder.  Sometimes they do a wonderful job, sometimes they suck.  Power can be addictive and a few over-achievers cannot resist the temptations of corruption. Unfortunately, corruption still flourishes. Too temper the corrupt over-achievers, we need the third group - the rebels. 

Rebels are great, they keep the overachievers in check. Great rebels throughout American history include Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, John Brown, Malcolm X, Henry David Thoreau. Mohandas Gandhi was a rebel in India, as was Lech Walesa in Poland. I represent people who are rebels, and I like them. They rock the boat, as Whistleblowers, and as employees crying out against discrimination.  

The problem I see is that the rebels often do not fare well when put in a position of power.  Lech Walesa was a great rebel leader, but a mediocre leader of a country. Real rebels seek out injustice and fight against it and that's what they should do.  They are not men and women of compromise as are the political and corporate leaders.  The rebels keep the leader in check, like the balance between the three branches of government. Rebels can become corrupt leaders, like Mugabe in Zimbabwe. Rebels should fight wrong. They don't know what to do with real political or business power. We need the real leaders and we need the rebels to challenge them. What we don't need is the apathetic masses. 

I represent rebels. I like to think I have some rebel qualities in me.  Let the others be the leaders.  Nothing good happens without the rebels challenging, continuously challenging, the status quo.  

I NEED YOUR JOKES

I need your jokes!  Apparently, according to a Facebook post, 15 minutes of laughing is as energizing as two hours of sleep, if you believe Facebook.

I love jokes!   I love puns!  The shorter jokes the better.  I can't remember long jokes.  Help make your fellow humans, or at least me, your fellow human, laugh. I want to laugh a lot.  Give me your funniest puns, knock-knock jokes, snarky jokes, ironic jokes, jokes, jokes, jokes.

I want an arsenal of jokes. Please help make a 60 year old woman happy.  Send me your jokes!

Thank you.

The Prejudice Against Older Workers

In years past, workers retired at 65, with a big party, bestowed a golden watch, and went throughout the rest of their life receiving their gracious pensions.  Many retirees lived happily their remaining days, sometimes as few as a fews weeks to a couple of years. 

A lot as happened since Social Security was passed around the 1940s.  People live longer, healthier lives.  American's life expectancy increased from the early 70s to the mid-80s, and with the rapid advances in medicine, life expectancies may be in the 100s in the near future.  At the same time, there are fewer union members and fewer workers are entitled to pensions outside Social Security.   So, there will be older people who will live longer with less ability to retire.  

Instead of valuing the older, experienced workers with proven track records of hard, valuable work, we are in the habit of letting these workers go.  The ones who still want to work probably won't be dying in a year or two, like in olden times.   They may have 10 to 20 good years left.  Just look at what the Kansas City Chiefs did with their older department heads- they fired them all.  Loyalty is a one way street for these companies.  People are commodities. Look at the famous CEOS like Jack Welsh at GE, constantly firing the bottom 10%, regardless of whether the whole company was performing. Jack Welch, I suspect, is a very sad and mean man. He fires his wives like he fires his employees. 

We are ignoring the contributions in the workplace and in society of people over 50. Only in government, where CEOs don't make the decisions, can older workers prevail.  The average age of U.S. Senators is over 60.  In the U.S. Supreme Court, it is probably over 70. 

Why do we treat older Americans with such disrespect?  Do we assume they have dementia? Do we blame them for moving slower?  Do we think they are resistant to change?

Older workers suffer discrimination as much or more than any other protected group.  There is something wrong with this.  It stinks. 

Power Corrupts

We are fortunate in this country that Silvio Berlusconi isn't an American. For years Italians have had a mega-wealthy leader who thought he could get away with anything.  He was in trial for months or years for fraud and his love of to partying with underage girls and prostitutes.  I guess he figures that since he is one of the most powerful and wealthy men in the world, he is not accountable to mortal laws. He is running for prime minster of Italy, and he may win, again.  Power can corrupt.  Throughout history, we are rife with megalomaniacs exploiting the masses - Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler, Idi Amin.  

Here, we have more checks and balances on our leaders.  But, being elected to an office can still be a heady experience, with more temptations than some can withstand. Through the years, I have been fortunate enough to represent clients who have the courage to stop discrimination by elected officials.  Years ago, I represented someone against a county auditor. The auditor acted as if she had no rules she needed  follow.  She had been re-elected over and over.  No one, except the voters, could fire her.  She was never made accountable for the hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars she cost the citizens of her county by repeatedly violating discrimination laws and retaliating against the employees who reported sexual harassment by one of her buddies.  

She probably is in office as I write this.  

One of my clients sued a small town because of sexual harassment by an elected police chief.  Again, he cost the taxpayers money.  I doubt the electorate ever held him accountable.  They were two busy farming to pay their mortgages. 

One of my clients had the fortitude to sue Mayor Funkhouser, who allowed his wife,  the self-appointed "first lady" to be unaccountable to citizens for racially discriminatory actions.  I like to think that my client was partially responsible for the mayor's defeat after his first term.  The electorate took care of that problem, probably because of all the media attention the mayor and his wife generated.

Suing an elected official is hard.  Reporters call. Sometimes lawyers make unethical statements to the press. Sometimes there are media feeding frenzies.  It takes someone special to go up against power.  And, if my clients win, there is no one to discipline the wrongdoer, since his or her boss is comprised of the electorate and most voters have a lot on their plates.  There are no performance improvement plans for elected officials, no suspensions, no form of discipline short of the ballot box.  Here's to those with the courage to fight the status quo!  It's a tough row to hoe. 

Crank Call

NPR is having a 3 minute writing contest. In less than 600 words, you are supposed to write a story in as a message on an answering machine. Here is my entry:

“Please leave your name and number after the beep.”

“Umm, Lynne.  I feel a little uncomfortable leaving a message.  I don’t usually use the phone at all.  I just called to tell you that everything is going to be okay.  Relax.  Drink a martini.  Go outside and enjoy the flowers, the sky, the grass.  

 

“I guess I need to be a little more specific.  You won’t know my voice and you can’t call me back.  The caller id says “unknown” because most people don’t know me.  In fact, you think I am fictional, made up as a result of the ’opium of the masses.’  I don’t usually call.  People who say I do are really pretty disturbed.  

 

“I know you’re tired.  I know you’re weary.  I know your plans don’t include me.  Ha!  Who do think inspired Bob Seger to write those words?  Sometimes I crack myself up.  

 

“I’m not sure why I called.  I am not looking for new followers or believers.  I just know you are tired and weary and I wanted you to know that things will be okay.  You have worked hard.  You built a life for you and your family.  You should be proud of your practice, your family!  I can’t believe I just said that!  Don’t wise “people” say “pride goeth before a fall?”  Who says “goeth” anyway?  I have never talked like that.  Actually, I don’t usually talk at all. I know you are going to think this is a crank call.  Crank.  I love that word.  I love lots of your words.  Onomatopoeia.  That’s a really cool word.  But, to tell you the truth, I like French better than English.  But, I digress.

 

“I just called to say hey.  Now take it easy.  Appreciate what you’ve got.  Don’t take things so seriously.  ‘Life is a cabaret, old chum.’  I just can’t get these songs out of my head.

 

“Well I probably should go now.  I want you to know that I realize you have good intentions.  And hell is NOT paved with good intentions.  In fact, don’t tell anyone I told you this, but there is no physical place called “hell” at all.  Hell is a state of mind, not a place.  Love is a state of mind, also.  Choose love and all things will be okay. 

 

"Oh, and thanks for not eating mammals.  That was a mistake, having animals eating animals.  I’m not perfect.  If I had things to do over again, I would change that.  Also, I had no idea hormones would be so powerful.  Maybe all of this testosterone was a bad idea, too.  Oh well, hopefully we all learn from our mistakes.

 

"Lynne, I just called to say I love you.  Shit, another song lyric.   Well, you get the point. Take care and stop worrying.  Bye. "