Return From Whence You Came

Contrary to popular belief, I am not entirely unemployed. I am currently doing research for a Professor over at the law school, working part time for what is, essentially, drinking money.

It gives me something to do, which is nice, although it is not as busy as I would like it to be -- I spend most of my day strolling aimlessly around my apartment, trying to remember which law firms I have not yet applied to, while waiting for my friends to return home from work so I can talk to a person again. I believe this is the clinical definition of underemployed.

Anyhow, I occasionally have to go to the law school in order to meet with my professor and/or print large quantities of documents. Which is somewhat awkward, given that I graduated last year.

So every time I go, I have to prepare myself for the inevitable conversations with those in subsequent classes who ask me if I graduated and, if so, what the hell am I still doing there. It goes a little something like this:

Them: Oh, hey! Didn't you graduate last year?
Me: Yeah.
Them: Then what the hell are you still doing here?
Me: I failed a class and got held back.
Them: Oh. Oh, I'm sorry.
(Awkwardness)
Me: I'm just kidding.
Them: Oh.
(Awkwardness)

I guess, though, that that is a better conversation to have than this one:

Them: Oh, hey! Didn't you graduate last year?
Me: Yeah.
Them: Then what the hell are you still doing here?
Me: I failed a class and got held back.
Them: I KNEW IT!
(Awkwardness)

So, no matter how you cut it, they're awkward conversations.

Now, I'm not going to be one of those guys who pretend that they have a job and put on a suit and go out in the morning and go hide somewhere in the library until 6 or 7 or sometimes even 8 when it's acceptable to go home. A job's a job, even if it's half a job, and if the people still at the law school look at me like I'm Vince Young -- who you sometimes see on the sidelines of Longhorn games and he has this look on his face like he'd chop off an arm to go back to being Texas's QB instead of Tennessee's -- so be it.

Plus, it's nice to get out of the house. This is a supremely dead-on rendering of the pros and cons of working at home. The part about the deteriorating social skills is frighteningly accurate (with the exception of urinating in public. I hope), so it is nice to get out there and see someone other than the guy in the mirror.

Plus, once you look past their general aura of terrified-ness, the girls in the new 1L class are really attractive.

Maybe I'll need to print out more stuff tomorrow.