This Sounds Awfully Familiar!

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Historiann has a post up about an e-mail exchange wherein a complete stranger demands her assistance, and is then very rude to her. Via Historiann, I saw this post at Female Science Professor about a stranger demanding something from her. Been there far too many times. A couple of times each week I get calls and e-mails and in person visits from people asking for free legal advice or representation, and when I refuse to provide same, a tirade. Most are random strangers, but others are part of the University community. Many angrily claim that they were given my name by someone who promised I would help them – isn’t “public service” my job? And of course it is, at least partly, but I get to choose the kind of public service I want to do, and helping nasty jerks with legal problems isn’t too high up on the list.

–Ann Bartow

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0 Responses to This Sounds Awfully Familiar!

  1. kelleybell says:

    Actually, by turning them down, you likely helped a great deal. Not with their legal problems, but with their social skills, anyway.

  2. JoeSlater says:

    This won’t work for historians, but for law profs, I’ve found that it’s handy to say (truthfully) that I’m not admitted to practice law in the state where I teach.

  3. Pingback: Sisters in Arms roundup: P.O.W.s unite, yee-haw! : Historiann : History and sexual politics, 1492 to the present