My Brother-in-law & other stories
By Johnny P. Novera

My second job

My first job lasted only 90 days.  Although I enjoyed the work of special delivery messenger, I did not want to become a casual employee for life.  I looked for another job.

My second job is that of clerk-secretary to a practicing lawyer.  My boss was trained in the old school when Spanish was the medium of instruction.  With the court records and proceedings now being changed to English at that time,  I am wondering why he insists in writing many of the documents he prepares in Spanish instead of using English.

One day, I asked him to give me a guideline when do we write a document in English and when do  we do it in Spanish?

He replied:  "It depends.  When a client does not speak Spanish, copy  the Spanish text; but when he does, copy the English version."

Why, sir?  I asked.

"Well, it is a matter of fees, hijo. We can charge higher when the client does not understand what we are doing."