had her usual brown mess of indeci-26
pherable lumps and strips.
27
“Mine looks good,” Kate said. “I won’t say what yours looks 28
like.”
29
Tara beamed. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”
30
They ate for several minutes in companionable silence. Con-31
versation from a nearby table filtered past.
32
“My sister’s, like, very linear about time?” The speaker’s voice 33
was softly indignant, her assertions concluding with a slight up-ort 34
swing. “It’s like, really important to her that you’re on time? She’s reg 35
like — I’m on time, you should be on time. ”
9858_01_003-152_r5hb.qxd 9/28/00 3:57 PM Page 41
E Q U I V O C A L D E A T H
4 1
“Wow, I don’t even like watches, to wear them. Like I don’t 1
even like how they feel on my arm. ”
2
“I have to wear one.” A dejected sigh. “I just don’t have a body 3
clock.”
4
Oh, brother, Kate thought. Get me out of here.
5
Then Tara was talking again. “Why do you stay at that place?”
6
Tara was chewing thoughtfully, watching Kate as she ate.
7
“What?” But of course she knew what Tara meant. For all her 8
laid-back demeanor, Tara was nothing if not persistent.
9
“That law firm. Why do you stay there?”
10
Kate tried to stay calm. “Look, it’s only been about a year. Any-11
way, it’s not as bad as it sounds. It structures my time.” Even as she 12
spoke, it occurred to Kate that this did not sound like an especially 13
strong defense of a job that consumed more hours per week than 14
most people spent awake. But it was already too late.
15
“It structures your time?” Kate could hear the exasperation in 16
Tara’s voice. “Kate, I’m worried about you. Slavery structured 17
people’s time. I don’t see that as a point in its favor.”
18
“No quarrel here,” Kate said lightly. She really wasn’t in the 19
mood for one of Tara’s tirades. “Look,” she temporized, “I’m not go-20
ing to stay forever.” But the words felt false in her mouth. Almost 21
without exception, junior associates claimed to have no interest in 22
partnership. Everyone planned to move on. After all, Samson as-23
sociates were highly sought after by smaller firms, and only one or 24
two members of a given class had any hope of making partner. But 25
didn’t most associates secretly wonder if they could beat the odds?
26
The conversation had ground to a halt. Kate hurried to fill the 27
gap. “Look, I’m sure it won’t always be this bad,” she said, hearing 28
and hating the defensiveness in her voice. “It’s just that I’m start-29
ing out.” Not true, of course. But maybe it would placate Tara.
30
“Glad to hear it.” Tara’s voice was noncommital. There was a 31
pause as she took another bite and chewed. “Hey, before I forget, I 32
want to tell you about this guy I think you should meet. He’s an ar-33
chitect. Does some sort of work with low-income housing. His 34 sh
name’s Douglas. Douglas Macauley.”
35 re
9858_01_003-152_r5hb.qxd 9/28/00 3:57 PM Page 42
4 2
A M Y G U T M A N
1
“Nice name,” Kate said, hoping that her obvious lack of interest 2
would forestall any further discussion. What was it with her friends 3
today? First, Andrea, now Tara. Didn’t they have better things to 4
do than try to find her a mate?
5
“He’s a friend of Tom’s.” Tara said. Tom was Tara’s long-term 6
boyfriend, a computer whiz with an artistic bent. “They met a few 7
months ago when Doug worked on the renovation at Mundo 8
Novo.”
9
Kate briefly wondered, as she had before, about the name Tom 10
and his partners had chosen for their Internet start-up. Mundo 11
Novo sounded more like an eighties dance band than a serious 12
business venture.
13
“Have you met him?”
14
“Yeah. We had dinner with him a couple of weeks ago. He’s cute 15
and smart. I really think that you two might hit it off. At least you 16
would if
pherable lumps and strips.
27
“Mine looks good,” Kate said. “I won’t say what yours looks 28
like.”
29
Tara beamed. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”
30
They ate for several minutes in companionable silence. Con-31
versation from a nearby table filtered past.
32
“My sister’s, like, very linear about time?” The speaker’s voice 33
was softly indignant, her assertions concluding with a slight up-ort 34
swing. “It’s like, really important to her that you’re on time? She’s reg 35
like — I’m on time, you should be on time. ”
9858_01_003-152_r5hb.qxd 9/28/00 3:57 PM Page 41
E Q U I V O C A L D E A T H
4 1
“Wow, I don’t even like watches, to wear them. Like I don’t 1
even like how they feel on my arm. ”
2
“I have to wear one.” A dejected sigh. “I just don’t have a body 3
clock.”
4
Oh, brother, Kate thought. Get me out of here.
5
Then Tara was talking again. “Why do you stay at that place?”
6
Tara was chewing thoughtfully, watching Kate as she ate.
7
“What?” But of course she knew what Tara meant. For all her 8
laid-back demeanor, Tara was nothing if not persistent.
9
“That law firm. Why do you stay there?”
10
Kate tried to stay calm. “Look, it’s only been about a year. Any-11
way, it’s not as bad as it sounds. It structures my time.” Even as she 12
spoke, it occurred to Kate that this did not sound like an especially 13
strong defense of a job that consumed more hours per week than 14
most people spent awake. But it was already too late.
15
“It structures your time?” Kate could hear the exasperation in 16
Tara’s voice. “Kate, I’m worried about you. Slavery structured 17
people’s time. I don’t see that as a point in its favor.”
18
“No quarrel here,” Kate said lightly. She really wasn’t in the 19
mood for one of Tara’s tirades. “Look,” she temporized, “I’m not go-20
ing to stay forever.” But the words felt false in her mouth. Almost 21
without exception, junior associates claimed to have no interest in 22
partnership. Everyone planned to move on. After all, Samson as-23
sociates were highly sought after by smaller firms, and only one or 24
two members of a given class had any hope of making partner. But 25
didn’t most associates secretly wonder if they could beat the odds?
26
The conversation had ground to a halt. Kate hurried to fill the 27
gap. “Look, I’m sure it won’t always be this bad,” she said, hearing 28
and hating the defensiveness in her voice. “It’s just that I’m start-29
ing out.” Not true, of course. But maybe it would placate Tara.
30
“Glad to hear it.” Tara’s voice was noncommital. There was a 31
pause as she took another bite and chewed. “Hey, before I forget, I 32
want to tell you about this guy I think you should meet. He’s an ar-33
chitect. Does some sort of work with low-income housing. His 34 sh
name’s Douglas. Douglas Macauley.”
35 re
9858_01_003-152_r5hb.qxd 9/28/00 3:57 PM Page 42
4 2
A M Y G U T M A N
1
“Nice name,” Kate said, hoping that her obvious lack of interest 2
would forestall any further discussion. What was it with her friends 3
today? First, Andrea, now Tara. Didn’t they have better things to 4
do than try to find her a mate?
5
“He’s a friend of Tom’s.” Tara said. Tom was Tara’s long-term 6
boyfriend, a computer whiz with an artistic bent. “They met a few 7
months ago when Doug worked on the renovation at Mundo 8
Novo.”
9
Kate briefly wondered, as she had before, about the name Tom 10
and his partners had chosen for their Internet start-up. Mundo 11
Novo sounded more like an eighties dance band than a serious 12
business venture.
13
“Have you met him?”
14
“Yeah. We had dinner with him a couple of weeks ago. He’s cute 15
and smart. I really think that you two might hit it off. At least you 16
would if
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