Premonition (预感, 予感, 예고)

 “The Premonition” is a book by Michael Lewis that discussed the warning signs leading up to  Covid. It joined a whole list of other nonfiction books over the years he’s written that offer compelling stories on the most well-known developments in society at the time, like “The Big Short” about thr 2008 Financial Crisis, Moneyball about baseball’s sabermetric revolution which was the biggest thing in the baseball world at the time, and then the oddly prophetic Going Infinite about the rise of Sam Bankman-Fried whom Lewis followed around for a year because SBF was the hot new entrepreneur in the crypto world, only to make like Icarus and fall from Grace horrifically and publicly, now spending time in Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

I’ve had a few premonitions from my young days turn out to be true. I dreamt that I would learn Japanese, then Korean. I dreamt that I would one day fly from East Coast to the West Coast to be on a game show with trivia. (In my dream it was Jeopardy, not a knockoff GSN show that aired to a VERY limited audience, but I haven’t given up yet!)

Also when I was a young college kid choosing careers, the lifestyle that appealed to me most was that of a traveling attorney. I had a premonition that in my later years I would be flying around the country for work, from city to city, office building to office building taking on important cases dressed fancifully, staying at swanky hotels, dining with rich people, etc, essentially living the glorious life of an attorney. I could see that life from the middle seat of the back of Southwest planes flying through college because it was a fantastical dream yet attainable…. All I had to do was go to law school.
My premonition turned out to be pretty accurate, at least for the last 2 days. Most of the year I’m just sitting at home in my sweatpants making homemade meals and my commute is from my bedroom to the adjacent living room. I had the opportunity to take a client’s deposition in downtown San Diego today, and I lived the lawyer high-life. The hotel: I have a mental limit in my head (maybe self-imposed?) to not spend more than 200 dollars a night for a hotel. This drives MJ crazy. That doesn’t apply…. When the firm is paying for the hotel! Suddenly I feel like Super Mario and the number of stars in the hotel goes up. It’s really a mindset for lawyers, act the part, be the part. Part of it is how I dress… I was required to put on business formal for the first time working in a long time, and I just feel different… like I’m important, and I belong to the group of people who are enjoying nice things.

Getting breakfast: I almost NEVER entertain the idea of eating at the hotel we’re staying at, but at some of these fancy hotels, they “gift you 25 dollars” to spend within the hotel so that if you don’t spend it you lose it (a tricky resort fee maneuver) but that does mean I wake up ready to eat at the hotel. Açaí bowl! And all fancy places have fancy food. It’s not the Bobby “I’m in a hurry” special, (MJ hates this too) where anything will do.

Office buildings: the stories about commercial real estate spaces losing customers is undoubtedly real, but that doesn’t mean some of the spaces aren’t really nice. And near the beach, or upper-scale office park locations, where there are running fountains, Christmas decorations (this time of year), valet parking, and heat lamps for outdoor dining enhancing the fine dining experience. 

Front desk people: every office people usually has a receptionist or someone at the front desk who is willing to help. That's a very important person! Often hospitals and other busy establishments are so buy no one is stationed with the sole purpose of helping with whatever is needed at the time. Office buildings have the opposite problem: that front desk person is often TOO friendly, with no tasks needed. But when they are needed, it's such a luxury to have and reminder that office people just have it easier. 

I really wish MJ, or any other hard workers who’ve worked in other environments their whole lives, could experience my lawyer world for a few days like I just did. You realize why some people go against the advice that lawyers have bad reputations and substance abuse issues or will be displaced by AI (Isn’t everyone?) and choose the attorney life. It can be nice.