The Learning Adventure

Well today was my second court date in small claims court. Normally Tuesday is a great day becasue both little people are in school. Since the court randomly picks the date, I am at their mercy. TODAY however L was home from school due to the power outage and I tentatively called around to see if she could stay with any number of friends and well everyone was busy. Fate was kind and E did have school or I think I might have seriously bailed....

So my 6 year old got her first civics lesson. (Well that is not exactly true - I always take her to vote with me...) We took a "Learning Adventure" to the Court House - which is kinda like a field trip - but WAY Cooler! (Did I mention that I was reasonable good at my former JOB - which was heavily weighted in the consultive sales area of customer retention....) Anyway, we dressed up - cuz I think that is what you do when you go to somewhere important. She had her trusty knapsack loaded with books and off we went. We parked in the Brewery distract so we could walk over the Freeway - I mean really what action packed "Learning Adventure" is complete without a walk on a bridge over the freeway?

We went thru the metal detectors, hit the bathroom - becasue with a 6 year old that is always a crucial stop. Then played elevator hopscotch to get to the court room and then waited... and waited and waited some more.... we met a nice woman, who was the company rep from an airline who was being sued. She was lovely - her employer - well they keep charging you more and more for checked luggage...

Then we went into the courtroom which L claimed was colder than Whole Foods and well it was. We worked on her sticker book and waited and waited. Then the magistrate came in. (Yes he showed this time!) Called the case prior to me, then dismissed it becasue the court clerk had not processed the mail correctly. It was too bad, cuz it sounded interesting....

Then called me. Since I was the only one who showed, he asked me a few questions - I showed off a bit illustrating that I HAD done my homework, he smiled and said, "well since you showed up - You Young Lady get the prize." I took that to mean I was dismissed - as he wrote in his file folder and called the Airline Case, which if I had not had L with me and a parking meter running low, would have stayed for. It sounded crazy and well airline stuff is always interesting. The only industry where you pay big bucks to be treated like a criminal and then mistreated and your belongings lost. (That is another post entirely.)

Then L and I played elevator hopscotch again and then hit the potty one more time and then went to the car. Her reward for being a good helper and an outstanding citizen? A trip to a great restaurant! We parked in the Short North and then walked and skipped our way to restaurant. We celebrated with a nice meal and an awesome Strawberry Yogurt smoothie for her!

I am willing to bet that I will never see a dime of the nearly $1000 owed to me, but it was a great day and like I explained to her, asking someone to do work for you and then failing to pay the agreed upon amount is just like stealing and stealing is not ok.

I at least will have the court judgment to justify the loss on my taxes and well it was the right thing to do. I am going to work on tracking this woman down now - but it will be a back burner item - I need to focus on finding new clients who actually pay!