I recently read an article about becoming lucky. It was a fake headline- you can’t become more lucky. Luck can be a self fulfilling concept because folks who think they are lucky tend to be right. The other side is also true- if you think that a dark cloud and bad luck follow you, you are also probably right. It is all about perspective. If you want more luck, it helps to expect it. That tracked pretty well with the Church of Farris™ view of the subject- there are lots of lucky things and miracles that happen if we broaden the definition enough.
Optimistic people tend to be luckier than pessimists, although pessimists tend to do better when the going gets rough since they expect it all the time anyway. I take the “glass half full” point of view to the extreme point of “look, free drink!” At least I usually do. Looking through my recent correspondence I am aware that a grumpy old man has been parked at my desk. He has been there long enough.
Early in my career I met with an expert witness. He was a doctor in his late 50s and complained about the state of his practice over dinner. He was making less money than in previous years, he was fighting with insurers more to get paid, and he didn’t recommend medical school to anyone. Since med school applications were trending up at the time, youngsters weren’t listening to him.
Lawyers in their 50s were have made the same complaints then and now. Lawyers think they are working harder for less pay than in their younger days. Either the good old days were truly better or something else is going on here. I think it is the latter.
It is easy to look around us and think things were better in the old days than now. Politics has become a tribal zero sum game with the electorate losing. The economy is tough. Opportunities are diminishing across the board. Hindsight may be 20/20 but nostalgia is not.
I have been doom scrolling my news feed and social media lately. Gloom and doom were on my mind when my rolling computer of a car broke down last week. Waiting on a tow truck in the summer heat didn’t improve my mood any. Then a rideshare driver taking me to the dealership service center changed my mind.
I recognized my driver from a nearby convenience store I frequented before it closed for remodeling- he told me had worked there for almost 20 years. He moved here from Pakistan in the 1990s and was adamant that we live in a land of opportunity and things are pretty good. Whatever opportunities we have lost still exceed most other countries he insisted. Both of his children are doing well in private universities. He not only supports them but the rest of his family here while still helping his parents in Pakistan, all while working tough jobs that don’t pay very well.
He admitted that things were more divisive in this country than when he first came but still had a litany of good things to run past me. In fact, the trip ended before his list did.
Although I know that optimists live longer than pessimists, I have to confess to drifting towards the dark side lately. Fighting for my injured clients now includes dealing with Medicare and Medicaid repayments, chasing and waiting longer to get their medical records, and longer wait times to resolve their cases which have all started to take a toll on me and my friends that are honest about it. Add in COVID and pessimism is tough to avoid.
Nonetheless, the ride in the back of an Uber car (with its check engine light on) did me some good. It is a long way from Thanksgiving, but I renew my commitment to optimism. Here is a short list of things in my practice for which I am grateful:
Remote appearances. COVID forced the court system to jump ahead centuries, and for once technology was already in place to help us out. I miss the good old days of meeting with colleagues at call dockets, but I am happy to trade that social time for an extra couple of hours each day not driving to and parking at the courthouse. The same goes for out of town depositions- before 9/11 you could get just about anywhere and back in the same day but good luck getting a direct flight to anywhere now. Remote depositions swap two days of travel for three hours’ worth of testimony.
Wardrobe costs are down. The practice of wearing suits all day has been on the decline for years, but I rarely suit up more than a few times per month now. This translates to fewer torn off buttons or pockets caught on doors and fewer gravy-stained trips to the dry cleaner. The extra COVID pounds made many of my clothes unusable for other reasons of course.
Life has slowed down. Those of us who still go to the office see less traffic on the roads. Restaurants and stores in my part of the world close earlier as well, meaning I have to knock off work sooner if I know that the home fridge is empty but I want to eat after work. Even though more people are working remotely, the chances of a late business meeting are down. Like the revolution, the rat race is not televised but from where I sit, the rats are only walking.
If optimism and luck are choices, I am revived to keep choosing them. I am still glad to be a lawyer. The work is still interesting and the people are enjoyable. It may not be what it once was, but at least I don’t have strangers in my car.
©2022 With All Due Respect. Spencer Farris is the founding partner of The S.E. Farris Law Firm in St Louis, Missouri. He is lucky, but hasn’t won the lottery yet. Obviously. Comments or criticisms about this column may be sent c/o this newspaper or directly to me via email at farris@farrislaw.net.