Sigh

My days can be very depressing sometimes. There is nothing like wrapping up a Friday afternoon by being confronted with the very real human consequences of my clients' interactions with the criminal justice system. Realizing a dad can't go to a child's high school graduation even though he's 30 miles away. Knowing a broken-hearted mother or wife faces a birthday or a Valentine's Day or a Christmas alone. I'm kind of a cryer, so this stuff gets me.*

But I think it's a good thing that my job can still leave me this bummed on a Friday evening. Because it means I still care. Deeply. That I haven't lost sight of the very human component of the work I do. I'm not close to turning into just a cog in the machine.

So I'm glad the plights of my clients and their families still make me so blue. The day I don't feel this bad about it is the day I should think about finding a new line of work.




*It ought to go without saying that I am also keenly aware of the very real human consequences for the victims and their families. I ought not need to express how sad it is to think of children who must graduate from high school without a parent or sibling because that loved one was murdered. But undoubtedly some people think it's outrageous that I care about my clients' parents or children. Or even my clients themselves. I have enough compassion to feel horrible for everyone involved. But since I work with defendants, that side is what I see and am more often touched by.