Spare change?

I mentioned this earlier in the week, but I'm currently working in West Los Angeles. I'm at a building directly across the street from my lawyers.

Of course, "my lawyers" is a bit of a misnomer. I'm not involved in any litigation, these guys simply rewrite the terms of our living trust every five years or so. To determine which of my two daughters will get the bulk of our estate. I'm pretty sure estate should be in quotes as well.

The terms often rest on who cleans up their room or does the dishes when they are told to.

The bill from the lawyers is often amusing. And not in a good way.

They can charge up to $600 an hour. And they like to itemize the bill in 10 minute intervals.

Faxing copies (1/6th of an hour) ------------------------------------------$100.00
Making coffee (1/6th of an hour) -----------------------------------------$100.00
Billing client (1/6th of an hour)--------------------------------------------$100.00

That's right, they bill me for the burden of billing me. It's all very meta, but what can I do?

Contrast that with a different kind of work ethic I see everyday as I drive by the Home Depot on Sawtelle Ave.

In a perimeter that stretches a quarter mile all around, you will find dozens of undocumented (I'm assuming) workers who literally bum rush any car entering or leaving the Home Depot parking lot. The hope is, that for five or six bucks an hour, they can secure a day's worth of work cleaning drains, hauling furniture, or any other shit job deemed too shitty by lazy Angelenos.

My admiration for these guys knows no bounds.

They are there everyday. They come early (again I'm assuming, cause I don't stroll into my cushy job until 9:30) and they stay late. They run up to any vehicle that looks promising. And they want to work because they need to supplement the income of their wives, who are often cleaning houses for below minimum wages.

They have earned my respect and my empathy in a way some twenty year old slacker standing outside a 7-11 asking for spare change never will.

You want some of my money to buy some tallboys or a bag of weed? Sure, let's go back to my house. I have some prickly palm trees that need trimming.