Normal
Having a job is better than having no job, no matter what really. I don't think they will look down on this and ultimately you can draw transferrable skills from any job. The job market is tough and I personally feel that it shows humility to be willing to take what you can get despite the inevitable reactions from customers and colleagues that you alluded to. I also remember from one Open Day (I think it was Clifford Chance) one of the speakers said "everyone should work retail at least once in their lives".As you said it's also way easier to write good applications in a job like that than e.g. working 9-6 in the Civil Service, getting home at 7 and being tired (although people do manage this too - your hours will be worse in biglaw after all)
Having a job is better than having no job, no matter what really. I don't think they will look down on this and ultimately you can draw transferrable skills from any job. The job market is tough and I personally feel that it shows humility to be willing to take what you can get despite the inevitable reactions from customers and colleagues that you alluded to. I also remember from one Open Day (I think it was Clifford Chance) one of the speakers said "everyone should work retail at least once in their lives".
As you said it's also way easier to write good applications in a job like that than e.g. working 9-6 in the Civil Service, getting home at 7 and being tired (although people do manage this too - your hours will be worse in biglaw after all)