Every ambitious young law graduate wants to impress his or her boss and quickly contracts the do-it-all syndrome, meaning they have a hard time saying "no" to anything the boss needs or even suggests, even if it is extracurricular.
I am no exception. The judge teaches an evening course at a local law school on Thursdays and invited his clerks to attend. My brilliant co-clerk from Harvard has been going every week. I, on the other hand, hesitated at the invitation for a couple of reasons. First, my commute is an hour long and my wife would be flying solo with three kids during dinner, baths, and bed time. Second, husbands who don't check with their wives before doing something like that have a death wish.
I looked at my co-clerk with a tinge of jealousy and felt unsure what to do. Perhaps sensing my hesitation, the judge--a big family man--said, "If I had three little ones at home, I wouldn't spend my evenings going to this class." I appreciated his humor and the wisdom of his answer. It reassured me that I don't have to "do it all" to impress him.
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