Lifestyles of the poor and nameless

For some time now, I've been thinking about my decision to go to law school and wondering if I did the right thing. "Mental stimulation" and "challenging work" is so overrated. I once heard the job search process described in this way: "Looking for a job is like praying for someone to kick you in the ass repeatedly and then being glad when they agree to do it." --- from the movie "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" I concur.

I spent my entire life trying to avoid math and science. I picked the legal field because it was professional, had money-making potential and didn't require knowledge of math and science. So how did I end up working as a legal specialist in the overbearingly boring, science-oriented field of water quality standards and assessment? Day in and day out, I'm surrounded by trivalent and hexavalent chromium levels and tert-Butyl Alcohol values in "Group C" carcinogens. Huh?

This is a far cry from the society magazine I was hoping to start, the writing I planned to do, the business I intended to open, or even the consumers I wanted to protect while working for the state/federal government.

I think that's the problem: I have too many choices. Right now, I feel like if I have to work for someone else, I should become a teacher. Both of my parents were teachers at some point in their lives and a few of my friends are teachers now. What beats shaping young minds and having summer vacation? If I ever manage to pass the bar, I could probably work as an adjunct professor in a city law school or local college... although I really would like to work with young kids.

I need a vacation--- a few months off from reality just to regroup. I need to sit at home (not home with my parents, but my own place) and do nothing but watch TV, read and work out like a psycho for 2 months. Then I'll travel for a month. After that I'd spend 2 months working on that magazine. I'd do some more traveling for about 3 weeks and come back and pitch the magazine. If it didn't work out, I'd explore the rest of the ideas on my list...that should take another 3 months. And only then, if everything has flopped...I would pick up the paper and search for a 9-5, content with the knowledge that I'm well-rested, and I've done everything I wanted to do.

The problem is that I can't feel comfortable taking that kind of time off from life...especially without a sizeable amount of money saved up. Then there's the fact that although I like travel, I'm the corny kind of person that needs to have someone with me. Vacations (like movies, dinner and museums) just seem really boring if you can't turn to someone and say "hey...did you see that?! Wasn't that great?" or "why don't you try the bisque and I'll have the chicken? Then we can share."

So I'm back to the water quality standards. Next time you open that bottle of poland spring, remember that the head of a disgruntled female imploded so that you can have clean water to drink.