Anonymous Lawyer

I took a summer associate out for tapas this afternoon. His idea. Sometimes I demand we go to a certain kind of restaurant just because I'm in the mood for it or because I know the summer associate doesn't like that type of food but that he'll defer to me anyway and then I get to watch someone choke down food they don't like, which is always enjoyable. But today I decided to let the summer pick. And he picked a tapas place I'd never been to. And we had to share. I hate sharing food. Not with people I like and respect. Sharing food with people I like and respect is fine. I like variety. But sharing food with people beneath me is not my idea of a good lunch. Whenever I'm in a sharing situation on a summer lunch, I like to leave the last bite of every dish, just to see if the summer associate will take it. Obviously he shouldn't. Obviously he should leave it for me, out of courtesy, no matter how much I insist he take it. Obviously even if I beg him to eat it, if I say I don't want it, if I say I've got no interest, obviously he shouldn't even think about taking it. That last bite of crab cake is for me. I'm the hiring partner. He's just the summer associate.

But today, of course, he took it. He had at least 5/8 of two of the dishes, and all I had was 3/8. And he knew it. And he did it anyway. Inexcusable. A fireable offense. I didn't fire him, of course. He's only a summer associate. But he shouldn't be eating 5/8 of the crab cake, and taking all of the mango salsa too. I don't like mangoes, but that isn't really the point, is it?