Trainee: Difference between revisions

From The Jolly Contrarian
Jump to navigation Jump to search
No edit summary
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit
No edit summary
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit
Line 6: Line 6:
“It cannot be right,” they wail, “in our enlightened times, to torture out younglings so. Fourteen hours a day! Sometimes more! They are not up to it.  It will crush them. We must be humane.”  
“It cannot be right,” they wail, “in our enlightened times, to torture out younglings so. Fourteen hours a day! Sometimes more! They are not up to it.  It will crush them. We must be humane.”  


There will then follow a long and tiring diatribe about the fragile psychiatric disposition of the upcoming generation. It will culminate in robust accord that we must all, at every opportunity, speak loudly and at [[tedious]] length about our own astral vulnerabilities, end the stigma of being seen to gabble incessantly about our stigmas.
There will then follow a long and tiring diatribe about the fragile psychiatric disposition of the upcoming generation. It will culminate in robust accord that we must all, at every opportunity, speak loudly and at [[tedious]] length about our own vulnerabilities, thereby ending forever the stigma of being seen to gabble incessantly about our stigmas.


The [[JC]] will spare you his usual Nietzschean quotes about [[military life]], apposite though they are: there is nothing quite like a good old “shoeing” at the bottom of the ruck every now and then to stouten a young attorney’s fibre. It builds a kind of resilience that moaning about your lot on [[LinkedIn]] never will.
Kids: keeping quiet about your weaknesses isn’t a ''travesty''. It’s ''personal branding 101''.


A better question is this: what sort of person regards ''any part'' of the big law military industrial complex — even its  most callow inductees — with even the tiniest twinge of affection or sympathy?
The [[JC]] will spare you his usual Nietzschean quotes about [[military life]], apposite though they are: suffice to say there is nothing quite like a good old “shoeing” at the bottom of the ruck every now and then to stouten a young attorney’s fibre. It builds a kind of resilience that whining about your lot on [[LinkedIn]] never will.


The same people who would cuddle polar bears. They don’t last long.
In any case a better question is this: what sort of person regards ''any part'' of the big law military industrial complex — even its front line of callow inductees — with the tiniest twinge of affection or sympathy?
 
The same people who would cuddle polar bears, that's who. They don’t last long.


For, really: what do you think ''happens'' to those cute little Kirkland & Ellis cubs when they grow up? Have you not seen ''Stranger Things''?  
For, really: what do you think ''happens'' to those cute little Kirkland & Ellis cubs when they grow up? Have you not seen ''Stranger Things''?  
Line 18: Line 20:
The Yale careers office is not the Russian front. These poor little lambs were not conscripted, press-ganged, nor marched at gunpoint down to the Latham & Watkins.  
The Yale careers office is not the Russian front. These poor little lambs were not conscripted, press-ganged, nor marched at gunpoint down to the Latham & Watkins.  


To the contrary, these furry little padawans spent years clambering over each other to get that where they are. They are trained killers. They want the weak. They are motivated to this penury. Five years of trench warfare is part of their plan.
To the contrary, these little blighters spent years clambering over each other to get to where they are now. This was their one goal, their guiding, blinding light. ''These people are trained killers''. They ''eat'' the weak. They are ''motivated'' to this penury. They want it. They understand, the way LinkedIn grandees seen bit too, that ''[[That which does not kill you makes you stronger]]''. Five years of trench warfare is ''part of their plan''.


And remember, these babes-in-arms — armed babies, at any rate —are charged out, from the moment they put down their joss-sticks and hacky-sacks and climb into the power-suit, at ''five hundred bucks an hour''. And they know nothing. Their work is thus triple checked by some slightly older cherub who is paid nine-hundred bucks an hour and knows barely any more. You are paying an effective rate of sixteen hundred bucks an hour a kid you wouldn't trust to wash your car if he lived on your street.
And remember, these babes-in-arms — armed babies, at any rate — are charged out, from the moment they put down their joss-sticks and hacky-sacks and climb into the power-suit, at ''five hundred bucks an hour''. And they know nothing. Their work is thus triple checked by some slightly older cherub who is paid nine-hundred bucks an hour and knows barely any more. You are paying an effective rate of sixteen hundred bucks an hour a kid you wouldn't trust to wash your car if he lived on your street.


And do these people not remember their own tutelage  
And do these people not remember their own tutelage  

Revision as of 23:02, 7 November 2022

People Anatomy™
A spotter’s guide to the men and women of finance.
Index: Click to expand:
Tell me more
Sign up for our newsletter — or just get in touch: for ½ a weekly 🍺 you get to consult JC. Ask about it here.

Little basil fotherington-tomas before he is turned.

Every now and then an anguished howl will yammer across LinkedIn signalscape, as some well-meaning thought leader or other — or sometimes an anonymous self -organising autonomous collective of juniors — lights touchpaper to the topic of the grisly working conditions for young commercial lawyers and a predictable dumpster fire woofs, explodes and quickly burns out when people connect their senses, or get distracted by the next bauble, or whatever motivates the herd these days on the Onworld

“It cannot be right,” they wail, “in our enlightened times, to torture out younglings so. Fourteen hours a day! Sometimes more! They are not up to it. It will crush them. We must be humane.”

There will then follow a long and tiring diatribe about the fragile psychiatric disposition of the upcoming generation. It will culminate in robust accord that we must all, at every opportunity, speak loudly and at tedious length about our own vulnerabilities, thereby ending forever the stigma of being seen to gabble incessantly about our stigmas.

Kids: keeping quiet about your weaknesses isn’t a travesty. It’s personal branding 101.

The JC will spare you his usual Nietzschean quotes about military life, apposite though they are: suffice to say there is nothing quite like a good old “shoeing” at the bottom of the ruck every now and then to stouten a young attorney’s fibre. It builds a kind of resilience that whining about your lot on LinkedIn never will.

In any case a better question is this: what sort of person regards any part of the big law military industrial complex — even its front line of callow inductees — with the tiniest twinge of affection or sympathy?

The same people who would cuddle polar bears, that's who. They don’t last long.

For, really: what do you think happens to those cute little Kirkland & Ellis cubs when they grow up? Have you not seen Stranger Things?

The Yale careers office is not the Russian front. These poor little lambs were not conscripted, press-ganged, nor marched at gunpoint down to the Latham & Watkins.

To the contrary, these little blighters spent years clambering over each other to get to where they are now. This was their one goal, their guiding, blinding light. These people are trained killers. They eat the weak. They are motivated to this penury. They want it. They understand, the way LinkedIn grandees seen bit too, that That which does not kill you makes you stronger. Five years of trench warfare is part of their plan.

And remember, these babes-in-arms — armed babies, at any rate — are charged out, from the moment they put down their joss-sticks and hacky-sacks and climb into the power-suit, at five hundred bucks an hour. And they know nothing. Their work is thus triple checked by some slightly older cherub who is paid nine-hundred bucks an hour and knows barely any more. You are paying an effective rate of sixteen hundred bucks an hour a kid you wouldn't trust to wash your car if he lived on your street.

And do these people not remember their own tutelage


See also