If you haven’t seen the Finale of Boston Legal, read the article, but skip the link. For me, I will truly miss Alan and Denny smoking their cigars and drinking their scotch on the balcony of old Boston neighborhood.
People often look at me and say, “What’s wrong with you that you don’t have a television?” And “Why Boston Legal?” I think that I share the thoughts of many folks addicted to a show that is witty, wild, and about the law. Fascination for negotiating skills and the art of persuasion.
Ever since I can remember I had a crush on Perry Mason — doesn’t speak well for my choice in men, does it? But as a little girl I think I read every Earle Stanley Gardner mystery. So I like surprise endings. And even though you always knew that Mason, Matlock, and the Boston Legal team would prevail, it was the cleverness that captivated you.
Right now I will have to switch my allegience to Eli Stone — which mixes my love of fantasy and the world of the Divine — with the law.
About the law — I often read of professors who had students argue a case from both sides of the aisle. And one of the interesting. This is a fundamental component of coping skills or negotiating skills. In my column this past Sunday, I wrote the following:
Coping skills help one to see the world from another person’s perspective.
I learned about coping skills while writing Sisterhood Betrayed and talked with developmental psychologist Dr. Myrna B. Shure, author of Thinking Parent, Thinking Child: How to Turn Your Most Challenging Everyday Problems into Solutions. Her programs for children had a surprising beneficial effect on mothers who translated parenting skills into workplace skills.
Dr. Shure focuses on listening and learning rather than judging and reprimanding. For example, mothers who saw their child hitting another were quick to assume an accusing voice when they asked, “What are you doing?” She suggests kindly asking “Why are you feeling so bad?” As money worries and holiday stress collide, adults might take a page from her book.
For more about Alan and Denny and the Boston Legal finale: Boston Legal Finale
Copyright 2008 Rita Watson