Jeremy's Weblog

I recently graduated from Harvard Law School. This is my weblog. It tries to be funny. E-mail me if you like it. For an index of what's lurking in the archives, sorted by category, click here.

Thursday, July 17, 2003

I should just go to sleep and get my full 8 hours. But no, I'm gonna type instead. A word of advice to law students starting to think about summer jobs and unaccustomed to warmer climates. Stay away. Doesn't matter what firm, find a satellite office closer to the arctic circle. Because this is brutal. Not only do the normal standards of the working world require clothing totally inappropriate for weather that approaches 90 degrees, humid and sunny on a cool day, but our bodies ain't built for this. If I was smart, I'd bring a change of clothes just for the 10 minute walk from the subway stop, as I trek into a baffling corner of Washington that, while rich with Starbucks (which, if they serve any drinks that are heated at these locations, is clearly being run by buffoons) has been deemed unfit for metro stations. So I walk, and I walk, and I sweat, and I sweat, and I get to work, half-melted, and I'm already ready for a nap. And this lunch hour that has no choice but to be in the middle of the day, when the sun is at its peak, leaves me wandering the streets of DC, wishing for a sidewalk smoothie vendor or better yet a thunderstorm, hoping that the direction I choose to explore toady will yield quick food and not long journey. This is why people at DC firms can be so productive -- no one can leave the office, for fear of heatstroke. Even at its worst it is simply not this hot in New York, or buildings block the sun, or subway stations are nearer to each other, or cold people give off cold air, I don't know. But I do know that it's hot out, and this is why people should not take summer jobs in Washington. Consider yourself warned. Go to Alaska instead (I know someone who did, and he sends me reports of fresh seafood and majestic scenery). Or Iceland. Or Greenland. But if you must -- and you shouldn't (Even for governmnet work -- go to Ottawa instead!) -- at least make sure to find an apartment with air conditioning.

And a haiku:

Air conditioning
Never heard two words so sweet
Well, maybe ice cream