Drama Queen

Good post today by ex-scamblogger Kimber Russell over at Shilling Me Softly. In response to an Ivy-educated nitwit who wants to leave a cushy, albeit unglamorous federal job to go to law school, she replies,

"I hate to say it, but in my opinion, the JD is on its way to becoming the drama major of graduate degrees. I began my college career as a theater major, and it was understood even by the thickest freshman that most of us would never be big stars and that we would have to supplement any income derived from acting by waiting tables or working at Starbucks. That's the future I predict for the JD."

Bingo. This is the best, most succinct prognosis I've seen.

In the ABA's fumbling haste to open the "profession" to anyone who can fog a mirror, it trashed it. I'd argue that a J.D. has even less value than a B.A. in Drama, to wit:

• A J.D. requires seven years of schooling in most jurisdictions versus typically four for the B.A.
• A J.D. automatically overqualifies you for many positions. Prospective employers expect you to leave as soon as something better comes along. Not so the B.A., which is synonymous with starving actors.
• Law schools are cash cows. The worst are the standalone ones not affiliated with a university. How many standalone drama schools do you know of?
• It's a lot harder to ship drama jobs off to Bollywood than legal jobs off to Mumbai
• There's no Top Drama Schools forum.
• Most law schools are accrediTTTed by the worst "professional" organization on the planet. Can't say that about drama schools.

Give the ABA a couple of years and it will achieve parity between a J.D. and a B.A. in Drama. Some day, little girls in Nebraska will dream of leaving their hometown to spend $500K attending Hofstra and then working in shitlaw in Queens. If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere ...

To the nitwit who wrote into SMS, remember the story of the sparrow.

Once upon a time, there was a non-conforming sparrow who decided not to fly south for the winter. However, soon the weather turned so cold that he reluctantly started to fly south. In a short time ice began to form on his wings and he fell to earth in a barnyard. Almost frozen, a cow passed by and crapped on the little sparrow. The sparrow thought it was the end. But, the manure warmed him and defrosted his wings. Warm and happy, able to breathe, he started to sing. Just then, a large cat came by and hearing the chirping, investigated the sounds. The cat cleared away the manure, found the chirping bird and ate him. Morals to the Story

1. Everyone who shits on you is not necessarily your enemy.
2. Everyone who gets you out of the shit is not necessarily your friend.
3. And, if you're warm and happy in a pile of shit, keep your mouth shut!!!