The Old Club on the Bay

My friend Joel, the criminal defense guy who is my office roommate, always cracks me up. He grew up upper middle class in Miami, the son of a very respected lawyer, though Joel likes to make his childhood sound tougher than it was, in the habit of many lawyers who add to their life story toughness by claiming they know the "streets." Yes, the "streets" of Pinecrest... Still, Joel has made an amazingly succesful career, representing high level white collar and not so white collar accuseds... And as he has made more and more money, he treats it the way I do -- by enjoying it, but not taking his material success too seriously. He finally traded in the aging BMW from his Public Defender days and got himself a navy blue Porsche. Whenever I see it parked in our office lot, I put a business card under the wiper blade, with the words written on it "This is the car of a typical hotshot Miami douche bag." He loves this -- and this is the type of relationship we have. So yesterday, in the pouring rain, he invited me to lunch, "at my club." Ha. Joel, even more so than I, is NOT the type of guy a country club wants. He and I get invited by our mutual broker Pat to attend cocktails at Riviera -- the venerable old place in the Gables. I enjoy going there -- Joel always finds a reason to avoid the place. So what club, I asked? He joined the Coral Reef Yacht Club, across the street from his house, to give his lovely wife and 3 beautiful sons a nice place to hang out, and maybe learn to sail. So we arrived there in the rain bands of Hurricane Sandy, and took 2 seats at the bar. "Listen," he whispered to me, "No one will probably ask, but if they do, DON'T tell them you're a Jew." I really love this guy. Sure enough, I saw one of my neighbors, Mike, a recently retired commercial real estate guy, who IS one of the WASPiest folks I know. We exchanged pleasantries -- he was a long time member. Joel and I had a few Ketel Ones and some delicious Caldo Gallego -- white bean soup -- and some delicious salads and sandwiches. I really, really admire Joel. First, like I am, he's a wonderful Dad. The basis of his entire life is his 3 sons. They adore their father, but also respect, and to a small degree, fear him. I'm convinced that a little fear is essential in being an effective parent. He's also a great and devoted husband, to a wife who reminds me in many ways of Wifey --same dry sense of humor, and love and respect for her husband, with some eye rolling, of course. So as the rain poured down, and somewhat horizontally, two very lucky and happy Miami lawyers had a great lunch yesterday. And we both share gratitude and laughter at the place we landed in life. It doesn't suck, at all.