On behalf of my fellow Big Firm Cogs out there, I wanted to take this opportunity to declare to the world that we LOVE our jobs.

I know -- sometimes all the whining about billable hours and all the kvetching about our ever-diminishing chances of making partner could lead (or mislead) the casual observer to think we feel something less than a deep, abiding love for our work. And yes, occasionally, when we complain about missing our best friend's destination wedding, we may seem ungrateful for our exorbitant salaries.

But, in truth, most of us Cogs who stick around really do love it on some level. Some of us just have a hard time admitting it. Or, more likely, most of us do not even realize we love our jobs. We get down about little setbacks -- like being passed up for partner -- and lose sight of our true love for online research.

The other day, I was watching my 401(k) drop by thousands of dollars a minute while simultaneously reading the latest news of more law firm layoffs, and I felt my neck tighten. I self-diagnosed a small case of whiplash caused by years of salary hikes grotesquely metamorphosing into downsizing and belt-tightening.

In that moment of reflection on the rollercoaster ride that has been Cogdom at Biglaw, I realized that we Cogs often take for granted the sweeter aspects of our jobs. Well, I should say we may not take them for granted but we rarely flaunt them to others. You just don't find many blogs titled cogslovinglife.com.

One reason for this apparent lack of love is that no one really wants to hear us be happy about our jobs. The kid who got passed over for all of those on-campus interviews with the Big Firms needs to be able to say, "I didn't want to work at any of those sweatshops anyway. I was just going to work for the summer to pay off some debt. I hear those places are miserable."

Those of us attending the on-campus interviews learned early on that we would receive some nasty looks from our peers just for being considered for Big Firm jobs: "I can't believe Lisa is interviewing with another Big Law Firm. She has already interviewed with five of them! Jeez. Save some for the rest of us." Or, "I can't believe Billy is selling out. I thought he had a stronger moral compass and was going to represent the downtrodden against The Man!"

Some may take our lack of giddiness about our gigs for a lack of gratitude. So I decided in these times of scary layoffs, maybe we should stop being shy about some of the things we love about being a Cog.

OK, well, maybe I should say "like a lot." Love seems a bit strong.

WE LOVE FREE COFFEE AND BOOZE!

Biglaw has its share of perks worth loving. Like free fresh-brewed java. Or an unexpected celebratory happy hour with a full spread of fine cheeses, chocolates and an open bar in honor of someone you have never met -- conveniently located in your place of work. Not many jobs can provide a fully stocked bar and catering services complete with a bartender on a moment's notice.

Sure, we make enough money to buy our own booze and coffee, but there is just a small joy that comes from having a bartender pour a fine bourbon in a glass of ice on the firm's dollar.

WE LOVE OUR CO-WORKERS!

OK, it's true. When you work with 1,298 other people, you can't love them all. And we Cogs often focus our work tales on horror stories about the worst of the worst partners or the gunner Cogs. Truth be told, Biglaw does employ some pretty nifty folks -- smart, witty and interesting lads and lasses who make analyzing the impact of the Statute of Frauds on a contract almost interesting. If we didn't have a few tried-and-true fellow Cogs (and, yes, even some partners) to help us navigate our jobs, we would stop the madness and open that specialty bookstore we always dreamed about.

WE LOVE OUR OFFICES!

I will admit that most of us Cogs take for granted the superior high-dollar office space and equipment that comes with a Biglaw job. But all it takes is one day when you are required to work out of someone else's offices (like, say, you must work out of government office space while you prepare your white-collar defendant for his grand jury testimony regarding his involvement in the failures leading up to the mortgage crisis) to appreciate the joy of a high-speed printer.

Biglaw depends on you billing as many hours as possible. We can't bill for time spent glaring at some outdated printer while it churns out pieces of paper. One. At. A. Time.

So we get fast printers, new computers, comfy chairs (the longer for you to sit, my dear) and big offices full of books. OK, I am not sure what functional purpose the large offices serve. But I think it is to fit our egos into the room. (The offices seem to get progressively larger as our egos grow, I've noticed). And I think all the Italian marble serves some function, too. I'm just not sure what, yet.

WE LOVE THE STAFF!

Working as a Biglaw Cog also means you have resources at your fingertips. With one quick call, someone can be in your office, looking over your shoulder and teaching you how to add the columns in an Excel spreadsheet. Or, if you are not quite so "hands-on," someone can log into your computer remotely and do it for you. Or you can just e-mail it to someone and make him or her do it for you! We love that.

As a Cog, you never need to know how to send a FedEx package, how to request a reimbursement check or even how to turn on your out-of-office message. Someone somewhere is hired for that very purpose, if you are so inclined to have them handle that task for you.

Computer giving you trouble? No problem -- call IT and get a new one! The carpet in your office has a strange stain? No problem -- someone will steam-clean it! It's like a fancy hotel -- just pick up the phone and dial the proper extension. Presto!

WE LOVE BEING ANONYMOUS!

As sad as it can sometimes be that we are interchangeable Cogs in the machine, it can also be a huge plus. If you have to have reconstructive knee surgery and will be out of the office for a few days, there is another Cog who can step in and finish your four-part analysis on the SEC's new disclosure requirements. The partner may not even realize you are gone or that he didn't ask the other Cog to do that work in the first place. Who can really keep us all straight? Send a BlackBerry message or two from the hospital, check your voicemail, get someone to complete your assignment and no one will ever know you weren't traveling for work those days.

Of course, I left out the obvious: We love receiving huge paychecks.

But, as I said before, who wants to really hear about that? No one. No one wants to hear us celebrate the joys of Biglaw life. It is more fun to hear us tell the bad stuff. So this will be my first and last effort to use the word "love" in relation to Cogdom. I just thought it was important to be on the record about it -- especially in these tough economic times.

I love my job! Please don't fire me!

Do you have dirt to dish? Do you have a column idea? Or do you just need to vent in six-minute increments? E-mail The Snark at snarkatlanta@yahoo.com.