Establishmentarian

SYLLABICATION: es·tab·lish·men·tar·i·an
1. of, pertaining to, or favoring a political or social establishment. (adjective)
2. a person who belongs to or favors a political or social establishment. (noun)

Alex and I always joked around that we should get tshirts with the word "establishmentarian" emblazoned across the front. One of the reasons why we got along so well is that we like being part of the establishment. While a lot of people our age like fighting the man, we like being the man (or in my case, than woman).

As my current roommate and I stood on the corner of the sidewalk this morning, refusing to jay walk, I realized that I've come across another person who likes the rules. She's someone else who went straight from UCLA to law school and we realized that we both got a lot of questions from our peers about this decision. "Don't you want to go have fun?" "Don't you want to travel?" "Why are you rushing into law school, you have the rest of your life to work?" Although we know our friends are just looking out for our interests, we laugh because out of all the types of personalities, ours aren't usually the kind to make rash, unthoughtful decisions.

Going to law school straight out of school, or even following established norms, is a personal decision. I actually like class and going to school. I like going to Europe with my parents instead of backpacking and staying in hostels. I prefer registering people to vote rather than staging protests. I like trying to institute change from the inside. I would rather shop in a department store than thrift store. I do go to that archaeic institution of the Catholic church weekly. I admit to listening to pop music over indie stuff. I wait for the little guy to start flashing before I start crossing the street. And while some people may consider my lifestyle boring, selling out to the man, conservative (ironic, isn't it?), or old-ladyish, it's me and it makes me happy.