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[quote=Anonymous]
This is more of a rant/vent/observation. I am a female attorney a little more than ten years out of law school. I work in-house for a non-profit managing a team of attorneys and legal assistants. The work is pretty interesting and my hours are decent but I don't make anywhere near what my friends who are at big law firms do. I have two little kids and deliberately chose this path because it is more family-friendly. We still have a very nice life! I am the breadwinner by a smidge.

Over the past six months or so, I have consistently had very annoying interactions with other attorney parents I meet. It's usually someone who is working in big or medium-sized law firms complaining about how it's a ton of work and the hours suck and it's so crazy and being an attorney is just awful. Generally, they will then talk about someone they know who went in-hours but how could never leave because they can't make less money and afford their life. LOL OMG HOW DO PEOPLE AFFORD TO LIVE HERE?

I am literally having these conversations at the bus stop in a neighborhood where pretty much everyone has a similarly-priced house. I usually just smile and say something, "Oh yea, it's hard to be a parent and work," and try to listen because I am generally a nice person and don't really want to start something with a neighbor, but I am so tired of this tone-deaf interaction. The vast majority of working parents make far less than someone working one of these "crazy busy 80 hour a week" jobs, often with less flexibility. Yet somehow, people are making it work!!! It's actually not even that hard. I probably make about a fifth of what the person who most recently made this complaint to me does, and I still consider myself extremely privileged to be able to raise my kid in this area.

Life is full of choices and if someone in one of these jobs wants to do something else, I am very certain they could go out and make it happen.

Is this kind of whining unique to lawyers or do I just notice it more because it's the world I know? No wonder people don't like us.[/quote]

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