Passing Shots
Nothing says rude to me more than a seemingly eloquent backhander from a so-called ‘professional’ who thinks they’re superior because they hold a degree in a field I don’t. It doesn’t matter to me personally how much tertiary education or higher learning a person has if they lack any sense of common decency or manners.
VPL
VPL is short for Very Penneylane. They’re my take on everyday lessons from life. Lessons learnt and others where I missed the boat completely. Life’s long or short, depending on which end of the paddle you draw. Either way, being stuck up a creek without one makes for some interesting observations.
ABOUT that Lesson
But it got me thinking about why some people do that to others and in the end I got a headache from the noisy advocacy going on between the warring thoughts in my head.
I’m a bottomline dweller. I mean, what’s the payload? Superiority? Actually in context, it was a backhanded call for my legal expertise in a matter. Of course I have none since I’m not a lawyer. But the barb wasn’t lost on me.
Me, I’m pragmatic. I happen to think there are better ways to communicate your position. Saying what it is goes some way to both parties knowing where the other stands. That’s helpful. Theirs was what I’d have called in high school tennis terms, a lady-lobber. One of those oopsie-daisy meant for an over the head of your opponent shots. The ones some girls are notorious for but not this girl.
For a clear-air effect, I let this one go as a passing shot. Sometimes you just have to be gracious until you get the measure of your opponent. I believed I was asking what I thought were valid questions around a concern I was having about their professional behaviour in a case relating to a friend of mine.
Conversely, my friend had waived her rights for confidentiality of her information to me, a fact this lawyer knew. The problem with taking a high-minded professional seat in the saddle is that a fall from your high horse can be a long way down too. Perhaps it was. That fall or drop is sometimes called a second opinion.
For my friend, it’s raised the bar to totally professional, empathic, proven legal competence and a return to a reinstatement of both her legal, not to mention human rights. In high school tennis terms, I’d call that a drop shot, a backspin on the ball to place it just over the net. A good one won’t allow your opponent to run fast enough to retrieve it. Manners on the other hand are retrievable should one ever wish to learn the lesson.
© Gail Penney 2011 :: PREVIOUS BLOG POST: Bob the Builder
