law and order

at yesterday's coffee shop outing, i met the Law Fraternity. da boyz: three sturdy "man's men" (whatever that means) law students who are a mix of charming and repulsive. charming because their brains are alive with activity and because they're very supportive of one another -- helping each other out with complicated legal material as they prepare for their final exam (no doubt worth some 100% of the final grade. yowch!). bonus "charm" points for doing it all bilingually (*swoon*). repulsive because of the jumbling of racial slurs and sexist remarks that periodically rear their ugly heads, and because of the general frat-boy guffawing. all of which sends me right back to grade 9 and the feeling i can't quite describe that makes all 5'11" of me -- both then and now -- feel about a big as a ladybug. whatever...

so, today, they're back. sitting closer than yesterday. the loud gravelly voice of Law Dude #1 (let's call him Husky) and the harmonized har-dee-harring of the legal trio are impossible to ignore -- making translating this article very tricky and blogging about these dudes (and therefore further delaying my work) imperative.

here's what's bizarre: i find myself developing a relationship with them. uh-oh. even though we haven't said a word to each other or even acknowledged one another's presence -- er, this blog notwithstanding -- i find myself beginning to think of them as three new younger brothers: little punks who, despite all of my complaints, all of my "shut ups", all of my "dontsaythats", end up making me laugh at their jokes (the unbigoted ones, anyway) and somehow endearing themselves to me.

oh, the little brother always wins! and this surprise reflection makes me realize that my real younger brother -- whose Wookie impersonation is way better than Husky's real voice, and whose heart just might be made of gold -- is the best little punk i know.

and now back to translating...