Please note the time of this entry

If you think I've gotten up at 5 am to do -- well, anything, then think again. I've just been through A Night At The Printer's.

Other summers who've come to the HK offices of various firms travel to Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, China. But I? I got to go to the printer's.

The printer's is a holdover from the era when regulatory agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission didn't accept electronic filings, and lawyers (and/or paralegals) would go to a place where, at the tail end of a deal, they could sit around proofing documents, having someone enter in the last-minute changes, and finally have that someone print out a hard copy, which would then get rushed down to DC to get filed. This process died out recently -- recently enough that I was able to see BC in Our Nation's Capital occasionally when she was sent by her firm in New York to bring a filing down, oh, back in 1997-8.

Now it's all done electronically, so the "printing" part of the printer's is done and gone with, except for all the printed copies of the document that the lawyers still sit around and edit. I don't know if it was always this way, but it's become a bit of a relaxation center. In this particular printer's, there were:

- snacks by the bucket-load (fruit, candy, chips, instant noodles, Haagen Daaz ice cream bars and cups, gum)
- drinks by the fridge-ful (Perrier, juice, water, soda, wine)
- a massage chair (very nice)
- couches
- magazines
- at least one board game

All this is apparently to keep the lawyers occupied and prevent them from pestering the staff, who are working away at entering the edits. And then there's always the possibility that you might want to celebrate after the deal is turned in. The associate I was with said that it wasn't unusual to pop some champagne after a deal was filed.

Anyway, that was my first experience at the printer's. It wasn't all that bad. I was with a young associate (my age, but a fifth year), and it was quite relaxed. I asked her the same question I asked another associate my age: Had she enjoyed being a lawyer?

"I don't know about being a lawyer," she said, "but in the first three years, it was fun working." She'd been with a lively crew at the London office, and things started being less fun when people began to leave or settle down.

It is fun when you start out working, isn't it? Especially with other people your own age, who've similarly never worked before.

You know what's more fun, though? Sleep. And I'm going to go do that right now. Although Sunshine, my officemate, said I could come in "late" (and defined "late" at 10:30 am), the associate I was with tonight said I should just sleep til I wake up. And that's what I plan to do. Thank goodness for serviced apartments with blackout curtains. Ooh, that reminds me -- I should put out my "Do Not Disturb" sign so the cleaning service doesn't come in and wake me.

Goodness, life can be good sometimes.

Hopefully will be able to catch up on the backlog tomorrow.