It was a breeze getting a job teaching at Bar School. $60 an hour for l day a week for lots of weeks -
Great money when your newly opened office is bringing in lots of bills but no business to cover them.
The first day I didn't know what to do. I bumbled around.
Word got around. "A loser!"
The next day - a few die-hearts came to my class.
I thought hard. And I thought fast.
I had a few pages of questions asked on Bar exams.
So i engaged the few that were there in ways how they could go about answering the exams.....and pass!
The next day, word had gotten around. "That woman is brilliant!
She's got that magic answer on how to pass!"
The classroom was literally packed to the rafters!
The silence of 60 young men and women busy concentrating on every one of my words was palpable.
The sound of pens scribbling every one of my words ....deafening!
I was a success! A Brilliant success!!
The next day...same loaded classroom packed to the rafters, their pens poised in the ready.
I hit them with a new challenge....the Socratic method.
"Now, what was the examiner thinking when he asked that question?"
The class went into a paralytic silence....which lasted...........the rest of the session.
The next day.....the class was empty except for one student.
Word had gotten around. I had been hung out to dry. Twisting slowly slowly in the wind.
I was wallowing in shame. In failure.
That hour in front of an empty classroom with the exception of one student
lasted what seemed an eternity.
The pain of failure was excruciating.
I was standing exposed.
Nowhere to hide.
Finally, finally, the hour was over. There was no hesitation as to my decision.
I practically flew to the administration of the Bar School. And I handed in my resignation.
I didn't have too much time to wallow in my failure.
It didn't take long before the law office had clients.
They came from the Lord Reading Yacht Club where I had organized the first women's regatta on the lake.
The clients came with full confidence that i could handle their legal problems
"After all," must have been their thinking, "if she was able to organize that first-time regatta without knowing how to sail, we have all the confidence she'll be able to figure out how to solve our problems!"
Their confidence was rewarded. They didn't know, but the great advice I gave them came from some of the best lawyers in the city who were my friends and who were glad to help out a lovable "klutz"!
Postcript:
Thank goodness none of their grown up children who were in Bar School at the time had attended my Classes!
