By: Betsy Campo, Partner, Gainesville

When my oldest son was 4 years old, his preschool teachers asked the students questions about their parents, and then they wrote them out for us to enjoy.  Chris told his teacher that my name was “Betsy,” I was 19 years old (why of course!), I had brown hair, my favorite food was salad (boy, did I have him fooled!), and for my job he said that I “push down papers.” After I got past the glow of being a 36 year old who looked like she was a mere 19 and who only nibbled on salads like a supermodel each day, I started to ponder Chris’ answer to the question about my job, I “push down papers?” Hmm.

Then the light bulb came on.  We had entertained some neighbors earlier that year, and one, who is a criminal defense attorney, was standing up for herself against our inquisition about how she could represent such hardened criminals. In one response, she had said to me, “so, what are you? An insurance defense attorney? That sounds like nothing but a glorified paper pusher!”   So Chris apparently had latched onto that statement and, in his 4 year old mind, he imagined that I was going to work and pushing down papers each day.  I’m guessing that, in his imagination, it was sort of an assembly-line scenario, where I would stand, with a tool with a long handle like a broom, but with a wooden rectangular end, and I would push the papers along as they passed me on the line.

Skip ahead four years.  Chris’ school was hosting career day, and many parents were coming in and talking about their jobs to the class.  Chris’ third grade teacher pulled me aside at drop off one morning and asked if I would come in and speak.  It sounded like fun, so I gladly obliged.

Career day came and I put on my nicest suit, as if I were arguing at a final hearing.  I jotted some notes on a legal pad, put that in my nice leather portfolio and I headed to school for the big event.  It was scheduled for the afternoon, so the kids would have eaten lunch and had their afternoon recess, in the hopes they would be all ears for the presenters.  Chris’ teacher greeted me and the door and thanked me for coming. She told me I would be speaking last, fourth in line, behind a doctor, a scientist who worked at the University of Florida, and a mother who worked part-time at Publix.

The doctor got up in her comfortable green scrubs and spoke about the surgeries she was performing using a robot. She brought out a small robotic hand and walked around to each child, explaining how a device similar to that was used to operate while she controlled it using a computer. She showed a presentation on the smart board and she explained why surgeries were better because of that new technique.  The kids were enthralled by the robotic hand.  “Oh, gosh, “I thought to myself. “I should have put together a power-point or something.”

Next was the scientist from UF.  He came in wearing jeans and a Gator shirt.  He explained that he was a chemist, and that his job was to study something called matter.  He passed out Lego-like building blocks to each child and taught them that each Lego block represented something called an atom. He explained that all matter is made from atoms, and if they combined one or more of their atoms together, they would form molecules. And then he showed them some very cool models of things made from Legos to demonstrate how molecules make up all matter.  They got to keep their mini-block sets as a souvenir, so he was a very big hit.  I made a mental note to myself: toys are a good visual aid when explaining concepts to children.

After the scientist, the mom who worked part time at Publix got ready to speak.  Before she started, she excused herself and stepped into the hallway.  She returned wearing a green Publix apron, a mesh hat over her hair and clear plastic gloves on her hands.  To everyone’s surprise, she was pushing a cart carrying a very large Publix cake.  It turns out that she was a baker.  Of course, she talked about baking delicious cupcakes, cookies, very large wedding cakes, and she answered questions about the various superhero and Disney cakes she had made for childrens’ birthdays over the years.  And then everyone got very big pieces of cake with free juice pouches and coloring books donated by Publix for the occasion.  All of the kids loved hearing about her job, while I immediately regretted not having any props or an audiovisual presentation. I began to dread my pending discussion.

By now, the kids were getting visibly antsy.  The cake had obviously amped up their energy levels so that they began squirming and chatting while the baker loaded up the cake remnants on her cart and the rest of us helped gather the empty juice boxes and cake plates for the garbage. 

The kids were still fairly active by the time the teacher signaled me to start my talk.  I walked to the front of the class in my very stiff, stuffy-appearing suit, carrying nothing but my black leather portfolio containing my legal pad.  I sat on the stool provided by the teacher, and I looked out at the class as they laughed and talked and gave every indication that their attention had completely run its course.  Suddenly, the teacher gave a loud clap of her hands two times and all grew deafeningly quiet.  “Listen up, children!  Career day is not over.  Let’s listen to our next presenter, Mrs. Campo.”  Beads of sweat started forming on my forehead as I looked out at the just-scolded faces, all unhappily staring directly at me.

So I began.  “I am Chris’ mom, and I am a lawyer.”  A hand shot up in the back of the room. 

“Yes?” I asked the eager little boy in the back row.

 “Do you go to the big courthouse downtown?  My cub scout troop just went there last week – it was cool!”  

“Well, no, I don’t really go to that courthouse. We have our own, different court that we use in the type of law that I practice.  My job involves people who are hurt…”

Another hand shot up before I could finish. “Oh, so do you help the people who get hurt get better?”

”Well, not exactly. What I do is…”

“So, you don’t help them?” asked a confident girl in the front row.

Another small voice shot out, “Do you put bad guys in jail?” 

“Not really, I…” 

The same child spoke up again, “So, do you help the bad guys so they don’t have to go to jail?”

“Well, no, there are some lawyers that do all of those things, but that is not the type of law that I practice”

“So, what DO you do?” again, from the girl in the front row.

Suddenly, a shrill bell shot out, indicating the end of the school day.  Saved by the bell!  The teacher quickly thanked all of us for coming and she asked the kids to give us all a quick round of applause.  She then reminded the kids to gather up their backpacks and lunch boxes and line up for their respective post-school destinations.  I helped Chris with his things, and we started walking towards the door so I could take him home to our babysitter.  As we passed the teacher on our way through the door, she touched my arm and said “oh, Mrs. Campo, I am so sorry you didn’t get more time to finish your talk today.  Would you like to come back tomorrow and tell the kids more about your job? I am sure we can fit you in before lunch?”

“Thanks so much”, I said, “but really, it is difficult to explain to this age range exactly what I do.  If any of the kids should ask you, suffice it to say that my job just involves pushing down papers!”  She gave me a quizzical look and I shrugged and smiled and walked away, vowing to myself to never offer to speak at career day again!