A human chameleon

As a lawyer, you have to be a kind of human chameleon. No, you don't actually change color, but you have to be able to blend in with many different types of people. I may begin my day in jail talking to a felon with numerous tats and end my day talking to a society wife with fine jewelry and a purse whose name I can't pronounce. Both of these clients, if I am to help them, have to believe that I understand where they are coming from even though my background is nothing like either of them.

How do I pull this off? It's not by faking it. Through a lifetime of interacting with people, I've come to understand many different people. As a child working for my parents, I sold jackets to both policemen and bikers. As I grew older, I took advantage of opportunities to get to know people different than I was- sometimes I was the only one drinking beer at a wild party; othertimes, I was the only person that had never fired a gun at a gun show (where I was selling leather jackets).

I learned a lot about the different cultures that my clients come from. I don't pretend to understand everything, but I know enough to allow my clients to fill in the blanks for me. As I might tell the felon, "I don't know what it's like to spend a single day in jail, but I've known many people in your shoes. And I know how to help you like I've helped them."

The essential elements in people that I come across are always the same- we are all looking for similar things from life. Sometimes only the way that we express our needs differs.

I went to a birthday party the other day that was for a writer that I don't know too well, but who has always struck me as a charming and fun person. I must confess that I didn't take my wife to the birthday party because I stereotyped the kind of crowd that I'd be mingling amongst. A lot of artists are prone to philosophical discussions about the strangest things. I once was asked whether I felt like a member of the "Raza cosmica" because of my mixed heritage. So, I expected that my wife would be bored by the over-educated conversation. Instead, I took my good friend Paco- an insurance salesman who is comfortable in every environment.

But, when I got there, the conversations were a lot more light hearted and silly than I expected. I discussed a potential cheesy radio ad with one guy and talked video games (which I haven't played since I was 12) with someone else. It was the kind of soft banter that everyone enjoys. I could picture my wife in the scene with a glass of wine, enjoying the lively banter and telling a few jokes of her own.

The night reminded me again of how similar we all can be.