Small talk, peppered with challenges

I was at a networking event last week, carefully attempting to balance my plastic glass of wine while simultaneously eating enough of the hors d'oeuvres off my plastic plate to make it “dinner.” Just as I was stuffing a piece of bruschetta into my mouth, an older gentleman sauntered over and greeted me pleasantly. I returned the greeting and asked him how he was doing. We got to talking, and he asked what I did… which, frankly, is why I come to these events. Since I work at a full-service law firm, I approach business development and networking events like this one with the mindset that everyone I meet can be a client or refer me to a client -- if someone needs an attorney, my firm can handle it. I told this gentleman that I was an attorney. He immediately made a face as though he just taken a bite out of a lemon. “Ewwww,” he said as he grabbed a piece of yellow pepper off his plastic plate and took a bite. "You know what Shakespeare said," he grinned while chewing on the pepper. "Yes, " I told him, "I do know, but I and my firm do a lot of important work for our clients." I was giving him the benefit of the doubt, although I was pretty sure that was a mistake. He stopped chewing long enough to reply. "Yes, but you lawyers ruin everything. I mean, how many people really need an attorney?" he asked, dragging it out so that it was clear what he thought.