By: Jeff Curl

I’m not a violent guy. Really. This is for many reasons, not the least of which is that I would probably lose most violent confrontations. But last month I wanted to grab someone and shake him firmly until he understood me. Let’s call him Jim. I was at a social event, and when you meet someone for the first time, what do they ask you first, nine out of ten times? “So Jeff, What do you do?” There are a lot of ways I can respond: a business owner, that I solve debt problems, the list is endless. Usually, I just respond that I am a bankruptcy attorney; that’s what I told Jim.

Jim’s face contorted a little. His eyes widened, he pursed his lips. He took two steps toward me and emphatically stated something to the effect of, “Well, all of these people work the system and get a free pass on their debts!” There were a couple of other similar pearls of wisdom. I reached out, gripped his shoulders and shook him with vigor as I firmly stated, “Listen carefully dunce. Let me explain reality to you.” Well that’s what I did in my head. Instead of doing this, I exited my fantasy, smiled and said “Let me tell you what really happens.”

If I think of my last 100 clients or so, I can’t think of a single client that was even remotely flippant about his or her debt. They usually struggled mightily before seeing me. They borrow more money from family to pay other debts, drain their retirement accounts, borrow from Peter to pay Paul, only to get sued by creditors. Or sometimes something traumatic happens like a divorce that rocks a person’s financial world and they just freeze because of the shock of everything.

As a bankruptcy attorney, I am the last resort. I’m like the flotation device they strap on you before the ship goes down. These people are not flocking to me like the person serving cookie samples at Costco. People in financial distress who know nothing about bankruptcy think I am the equivalent of a dentist that uses a rusty drill without Novocaine. No one is rushing to me to “game the system.” They come because they are desperately in need of help. Despite common beliefs, I fix problems as painlessly as possible.

There are many stigmas attached to filing for bankruptcy. Namely that it’s something that happens to people you’ve never met (or celebrities). No one wants to talk about the pink elephant in the room. We don’t like to discuss the fact that many of us are silently suffering from overwhelming debt.

I asked Jim if he goes to the same bank and knows some of the bankers. Or if he ever dialed 911 and had some emergency responder show up to help him. Did he know his child’s teacher? Know any neighbors by name? He answered yes to all. And I explained that these are my clients. Not literally every person he knows, but these are the type of people who file. Everyday people, just like you and me.

That’s half of my job - explaining who really files (honest and decent people), and how the process really works. My job is to protect their assets and get rid of their debts.

So get over it, Jim. And I think he did.

Image credit: Ninja M. By the way, click here for the original picture. If you scroll over it, the poster of the picture zooms in and shows how the cat is throwing an illegal punch. Typical cat.