Thank you everyone. Yesterday was a lovely day that was made even better by crmsicl and ldrnomo’s presence.
Crmsicl brought tears to my eyes when she read her post at a post-ceremony dinner. Ldrnomo took a picture, thereby memorializing for posterity that Justitia does, at times, show emotion.
And yes, I did walk through the J.W. world in an irreverent manner. I suspect every brother saw in my eyes that I thought myself better qualified to lead than they and considered any act of submission to them to be pure charity on my part. There were only a couple of elders I respected, ldrnomo being one of them. He is a very accomplished businessman, yet he balanced those demands with congregational demands and still knew the doctrine. I enjoyed crmsicle because she didn't seem to like the 'sisters' any more than I did.
I’m not sure myself how I got away with it, but I think the elders intuited that they did not have the usual sister-victim on their hands and hesitated to start a fight. If they threw the first intellectual punch, I would be free to respond, and my responses would confirm their ignorance and make them feel less-than. So no one went there. It really was a strange ‘do you feel lucky, punk?’ standoff, with my ‘green eyes’ speaking the volumes of disdain my mouth could not utter.
In hindsight, it was excellent training. One of my classmates is a West Point graduate who served four years in Iraq and Afghanistan. One month into school, he walked up to me, said I was one of the few female “predators” he has ever met, and then proceeded to explain why. He too commented on my uncanny green eyes that I use to stare directly through to the back of a person’s eye (or their soul per crmsicle). I’m silent, still, and conserve my movements, unlike most women who tend to move a lot. I constantly scan the room to examine my ‘prey’ because people communicate exceptional amounts of information about themselves through mere body language, facial expressions, and presence. I’m looking for weakness, and when I spot it, I communicate that to my ‘prey’ with my eyes, thereby instilling into them fear and doubt, which is often fatal. Since I’m in my early 50s, I was rather shocked to hear myself described in such terms by a late 30s/early 40s, military expert. Yet, all of the aforementioned are survival skills I learned trying to survive as an intelligent J.W. female, and they will serve me well as a litigator. The refreshing part is that, as a lawyer, I will have mostly worthy opponents on the other side, which will make for much, much more interesting and enjoyable fights! My biggest regret is that I didn’t take those skills and leave earlier.
However, I will not use any of those skills if I don’t pass the Bar, so back to polishing my armour, sharpening my swords and knives, and practicing my kill moves (studying) for me!
Thanks again everyone!
Edited to add: I hope to work in health law, ideally as a defense (representing doctors/hospitals) medical malpractice litigator.