Ticket Taker . . . .
Years ago, while in college during, there was a military draft. Your birth date was associated with a number between 1 and 365, picked at random in a lottery. To “win” the lottery, among my peers would be to get a number in the high 200’s. That was because, at that time, Uncle Sam would, first, start to draft individuals who were born on a date that corresponded with “1” based upon that lottery. They would select all of those individuals born on that date until they filled the quota of people to go into the Army or Marines that they needed.
If all the “1’s” didn’t fill the quota, they would exhaust all those who’s birthday’s associated with “2” and so on, until the number of soldiers sent to Viet Nam were sufficient to meet the demands of the selective service quotas. Usually, that meant that they would exhaust about 200 dates and anyone with a number higher than that was not drafted.
As it turned out, my birthday was associated with the number 19 – and I remember very well the day when they published birthdates and the lottery numbers associated with those birthdays. It was devastating. My career would now be on hold with a high risk of death in a Viet Nam fighting a war that I didn’t believe in.
Those with the number 19 were clearly destined to be called upon to enter the service and in those days, being sent to Viet Nam meant impending doom. But, as someone with a college degree, I was in a position to enter the service as an officer after a 90 stint in Officer Candidate School. My father was in the Air Force during the 2nd World War so enlisting in the Air Force was an easy choice instead of being drafted to fight on the ground in harm’s way like many of the unfortunate draftees into the Army or Marines.
To this day, many people thank me for my service and I thank them, but remind them that flying 30,000 feet above the fighting on the ground was not the riskiest endeavor during that war. With the exception of exposure to surface to air missiles, my risk of injury or death was much lower than those brave and unlucky foot soldiers.
This background is all laid out to tell you about an incident that, hopefully will provide some insight for your and your professional aspirations. . . .
Right after graduation, enlisting as an officer candidate meant I would have to wait a few months to begin my training in Texas. With a degree, and nothing else to do, I decided to work to earn some money during that delay in my training. So, I searched the want ads and found an advertisement for laborers at the Indiana State Fair. At the fair grounds I filled out an application listing my credentials and waited for a call.
During that time period, the nation was experiencing a recession and many people were looking for work. “Go to college and improve your chances to earn a good living and have a secure position”. That is what we were told. I continued to wait for a call to report to work as a common laborer at the state fair and figured my qualifications had probably impressed the person making hiring decisions with my degree. Surely, this would place me at the top of their list for new hires. After all, I was a college graduate!
Another week passed and still no call. Surely, they must have misplaced my application. Or they were thinking about hiring me for a position in the higher levels of administration, with my qualifications. So, I took the initiative, like a true professional and went down to the fair grounds to find out what the problem was – I didn’t have forever, and after all, I was a college graduate!
A clerk addressed my concerns and assured me that, indeed my application and qualifications had been considered. But to my amazement, she explained that they were filling the position of  “ticket taker” and that in order to qualify, it required the applicant to have at least a Master’s Degree! There were so many people unemployed that even a undergraduate degree didn’t qualify me for this position. What a shock! It wasn’t what I had been “promised” by my parents and others. How could it be?
You may have earned your law degree and even passed the Bar. But you are not entitled to employment nor even a living wage. The only way you can guarantee that outcome is to be willing to put the time and effort to make it happen. Through this Blog, I will help you understand what it takes to succeed – and it takes a lot. If you earn your ticket, that just gets you in the door past the threshold that qualifies you to do things that others cannot.
Many law school graduates complain that they were led astray and sold a bill of goods asthey fail to see the opportunities available to them to use their law degrees to their full advantage. Many others find obstacles to the job of their dreams and work around those obstacles. At the time of the Viet Nam war many were dealt a “blow” when we saw the outcome of the lottery. Many of my friends never had to report for the draft and moved on with their lives. I could have complained that it wasn’t fair that I was drafted. Or, I could take steps to make the most of it.
To date, I have great respect for those who have served in the military as volunteers, or as draftees. A close friend, who is my age, stalked the jungles in Viet Nam and has terrible memories. There are many more that as I recognized at the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington; many have shed tears at their passing. As it turned out, I was the lucky one. As a Captain in the Air Force, many doors have been opened to me as a result. My misfortune could have been permanent and debilitating – but it was really a path that I would do over again if given that choice.
If you have your law degree, you are in a unique position and have the ability to be rejected as “ticket-taker”, or you can move on, recognize the opportunities that law degree affords you and realize the full value of that degree. It is up to you, no one else.