Friday, January 16, 2009

A Wild Night With the Legal Secretaries . . .


Well, no, not exactly. It was our annual meeting with our local court representatives/rubber chicken banquet. Looking around at our group before they let us into the banquet/meeting hall, it occurred to me that we're an aging bunch, and there aren't a lot of young legal secretaries coming into the profession. In another ten years, we'll still be coming to this thing, but some of us will probably be using walkers and ordering Ensure instead of wine. No, I guess we aren't very wild anymore.

And the food? Not so great. Last year, in an attempt to avoid over-cooked chicken, I ordered beef. Couldn't cut through it. So this year, it was chicken again, and wouldn't you know? The beef looked half way decent! Somewhat optimistically, they even called it "steak."


My chicken, on the other hand--that's it in the photo--well, I don't know. I have no idea what kind of sauce they put on it, and it took me awhile to figure out whether it may still have the skin on it because it looked kind of bumpy and textured. Nope. No skin. Maybe the chicken died a natural death from chicken psoriasis. Or do chickens get leprosy?


The salad and rolls were okay, so no one starved. But really, we don't go for the food. Mainly we go so we can listen to representatives from several semi-local courts talk to us about the new rules their courts have put into effect on January 1st.


There they are up there at the head table, all the court representatives, waiting to talk. And this year for some reason, they came in pairs, two from each court. Normally there are one or two men mixed in but not this year--not a single one! Hummmmm. Maybe THAT's why they came in pairs--so they could go to the ladies' room.

About this time, I was wishing I had that margarita the woman on the right had. I thought I might sneak it from her when she wasn't looking, but she sucked it down pretty quickly before I had a chance. There's a reason for the no-host bar at these events.

Mostly, the court clerks like to tell us about stuff like budget cuts, judicial openings, staff shortages, building plans, and more budget cuts. We really don't care. What we want to know is what we have to do differently each year in order to keep them happy and keep everything running smoothly.

I've been going to these things for at least 15 years--probably closer to 20. I used to really enjoy them, but tonight I was mostly thinking about missing CSI and quilting. Funny how priorities change.


I was kinda looking forward to this tiramisu. I was kinda disappointed. That little white thing on the top? It says "Tiramisu." Otherwise, we wouldn't have known. Pretty though.

At 8:30, the court ladies stopped talking and I slipped away. I might have sped a bit going home. Because sometimes it's fun to feel the power of a car when you press the gas pedal down. And down some more. And sometimes it's fun to feel the car holding onto the curves. Because you're free. Because all the legal secretaries and court clerks are somewhere about ten miles behind you. And you know you don't have to eat rubber chicken for another 365 days. Because really, you'd just rather quilt.

14 comments:

Lorraine said...

sounds like some of the personal assistant seminars I have been to...sorta gotta go but take the first opportunity to get out!!The last dinner was interesting - the food took ages to come out and everyone was half cut before the food arrived! lOL...did you get caught speeding????

Greenmare said...

that was chicken????? and tiramamisu? I've never seen it look like that. Perhaps you should bring some bar money next time.............

Anonymous said...

Well, this old legal secretary thanks you for going to these meetings and taking the bullet for the rest of us. I personally would rather watch paint dry. I will call you if I have any questions. LOL

Melzie said...

Maybe THAT's why they came in pairs--so they could go to the ladies' room.

HAHAHA this made me lol. you party animal. xoxo melzie

MichelleB said...

Many (many) years ago, when I was a secretary for lawyers (not quite legal, I did the typing and a centralized legal person did the filings), no one wanted to train me to do all the legal crap. I was really very willing to learn, I certainly would have had a better paying job. Is it still the same way? Maybe younger women can't get in because no one is willing to train them. Or maybe they just didn't want to train me. LOL

Judy said...

Okay so what's wrong with having some nice pasta? To me that would be much easier to fix that 200 chicken dinners!! Heck you could even give a choice of sauces...alfredo or marinara. You also can't go wrong with a nice piece of chocolate cake covered in chocolate sauce!!

Woo hoo to 365 days ahead!!

Sara said...

I just had to comment. I have been a legal secretary for almost 26 years, the only job I've ever had. I agree that we are an endangered species. Partly because they all want to be called "paralegals" or because the young starving attorneys can't afford a secretary, they just do the work themselves. Have a nice day.

Winona said...

Kim, so sorry you had to miss CSI. It was really good last night. Let me know if you need to know what happened. LOL Winona

julieQ said...

Isn't it weird that you used to go just to have fun, and now you hear mostly about cutting the budget? Money, money, money...it's a rich man's world, right? At least the dessert LOOKED pretty!!

Chocolate Cat said...

Think we all have dinners like that , a chore rather than an enjoyment! Don't mind so much if it is good food but that rarely happens!!!

Busy Little Quilter said...

So what did people think about you shooting pictures?

Julie in the Barn said...

My dear DIL, M, is a paralegal. She started out as a lowly secretary but the lawyers in her firm made sure she got the training to become a para because they didn't want her to jump ship to another firm.

I think these rubber chix dinners exist for many professions. I used to attend several a year as a buyer for my employer. I would often order vegetarian just because it's hard to ruin lasagna & steamed zuccinni & broccoli, the standard vegetarian dinner. But the best ones were sponsored by the wineries and wine distributors. OH YEAH! Who cared if they served rubber chicken?

Anonymous said...

I read your blog..alot. Your description of the chicken bothered me. Psoriasis is no joke to the millions that have it and your comment just attached the "ewww" to those that suffer from an incurable disease.

Nan said...

Your description of this meeting sums up my feelings about business meetings in general - strange-looking food, speeches that could be summed up in an email or memo, and complete joy at the freedom felt upon leaving the premises. I'm proud of you for going every year! You're a credit to your profession!