2003-04-28 - 8:35 p.m.
YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK
Apparently, it�s not enough that I drive my children from here to there and there to here. It�s not enough that I play chauffeur in my after-work hours. Apparently, all of that driving was training for me to become a high-paid chauffeur who gives rides to judges and other attorneys. It�s all because I�m just a girl who can�t say no.
Approximately a month ago, I found myself in a position where politics dictated offering a ride to a judge to a seminar. I was helping coordinate the seminar and he knew I lived near him. He�s not a bad sort and the drive was not as awkward as I initially expected�but that was in part because a co-worker agreed to go with me. Loquacious as I am, I do best talking to people either I know already or who I feel are equal. I get tongue-tied in the �one down� situation. But my co-worker can talk to anyone about just about anything and, even better, she did part of the driving.
Tomorrow�s duties will not be as pleasant. State law dictates that when a defendant claims that his attorney made serious mistakes, he must call the attorney as a witness at the hearing and give him a chance to explain why he did what he did. One of my clients has such a hearing tomorrow. Normally, it would be up to the attorney to get himself to court. Unfortunately, this attorney, whom his former partner says was �irascible� before his stroke, and is just plain mean now, can no longer drive. Somehow, he convinced the court that it should be my job to get him to the court.
So, tomorrow morning, I will drive at least a half an hour out of my way to pick up a nasty man who will yell and treat me like dirt all the way downtown. I will do it for the sake of my client who has waited long enough for his hearing. Then, when the hearing is over, instead of going back to my office and getting work done, I will drive the guy home.
But I can�t help wondering why I needed to go to law school for this. And yes, folks, paying a lawyer to drive is part of your tax dollars at work.
LAST YEAR: Mom on Their Backs
Little Things About Sewing
Where the Wild Talks Are
The End of Passover
Driving Lessons
Door Number Three
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Copyright 2006 by Ellen |
