Lawyers and Doctors--the new Accountants and Dentists? And why is that bad, exactly?

The NYT reports on the decline in cachet for the "older professions" [Clong: I had to read that twice, my mind went immediately to the world's oldEST profession, not that lawyers aren't routinely compared to whores]. Lawyers and doctors are complaining, it seems, that nobody respects them anymore. Applications to the professional schools are down. This, of course, would have been helpful to me a few years ago.

It seems the gist of the doc's complaints is that they are treated just like every other worker, and that there is a general disregard for their uber-degree. One poor doctor had to fill out a req for his patient's wheelchair--how demeaning! And then there's the pediatrician who takes it as a "personal attack" whenever people complain about the medical industry (presumbaly HMO's) at cocktail parties. Well. Welcome to the party. He should have to sit through lawyer jokes at every social function. Or perhaps he would like to meet one acquaintance of mine, who routinely asks me--"How's the LIARing going?"