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Dance with the Devil, said the man in the Wig!

Posted in Accidents, Challenges, Gratutude, Uncategorized, tagged acceptance, Barrister, BEing present, Blind Justice, coping skills, Friendship, Gratitude, KISS, life lessons, Medical Procedure, Mindfulness, pain, self acceptance, Sydney on March 1, 2013| 1 Comment »

Judges dressed in all their regalia

“In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.” Albert Einstein

I recently read that Judges need no longer wear the wigs – about time too as it will stop them constantly having the need, or itch to lift their wigs and scratch their heads. Not really a look which inspires confidence.

But that is beside the point. I found myself in court last week as I was called to be a witness in a trial. After a week of being ill in bed, followed by a trip to the doctor and a file full of tests he wanted doing, I wasn’t feeling too inspired about the court case, especially as it was in Sydney. There were so many tests to be done, that I felt like a vampire’s victim as I watched the blood pump into vial after vial without end. Even when the very gentle lady from Healthcare had finished, she gave me the good/bad news that one of the tests couldn’t be taken that day (Friday), and I would have to go back one day between Monday and Thursday. Drat and drat some more!

Still I had the flights booked and I was assured I would only be needed for one day, perhaps two at the most and so the return flights were booked and the arrangements to go back and have more blood taken was arranged. One of the tests could only be done in Sydney and since it would save us time and the cost of paying for it to be posted to us we made arrangements for that too. I really should have known. We ended up having to stay an extra day and couldn’t make the rescheduled tests back home. Drat and Drat some more!

image from zacphotos.com

I had forgotten just how long-winded barristers could be, especially if they want to prove a point. Most particularly if they decide they want to try to trip up the unwary. They really can develop a most unctuous manner so that you feel they are saying you have said something wrong and they are making everyone, especially you pay for it. Well, the judge, bless him, after the plaintiffs’ barrister had waffled on so long, was a more than reasonable person. Since he, the judge, decided to delay the hearing to attend a funeral, thereby extending the proceedings by a day, he was more than amenable to allowing a recess for an hour to allow me to get the test I had booked done.

There was one humourous side effect, if you have a strange way of looking at it. Due to my week in bed and some of the tests I’d had done, walking, especially through the airport and around Sydney was going to be a problem. The rush and the uneven paving, I could see the possibilities all too clearly. Dressed so nicely and going head over heels outside the courtroom. Not a pleasant or comforting thought.

image from http://www.123rf.com

So we decided to be smart and arranged for a wheelchair at the hotel to get to and from the court each day. That also included to the testing centre for my test to be done. My poor husband, rushing madly to get everywhere on time, in his suit, and in hot, windy and humid conditions was limp and exhausted each day. That included carrying a bag with every possible item we, or rather I, might need. Looking back it must have been hilarious, seeing two people dressed in business clothes frantically rushing around with a wheelchair through the streets of Sydney. The strangest and most irritating thing of all was the invisibility I suddenly achieved. People would continue to walk straight towards us as if we didn’t exist. Manoeuvering one of those things is not easy, especially when you’ve had no practise and often reduced us to a snail’s pace. It was so tempting to become kamikaze for a while! I will never take for granted the sight of a person in a wheelchair ever again. Not that I have previously, this simply cemented it.

So by the time I was finally called to the witness-box I was far from a happy camper. I was not in the right frame of mind to allow the plaintiff’s barrister to play word games with me. I have had a little practise many years ago with courtroom etiquette, and having a vivid imagination and since I am quite quick with a reply, I thought I was ready for him. It’s just as well I reviewed my witness statement beforehand. He was a pompous bulldog. Trying to twist a simple sentence into something seedy and underhand simply made me more irritated. So I stuck to my guns, (KISS) Keep it Simple Stupid. I told my story, and I have a very good memory regarding conversations, (much to my husbands chagrin at times) and we kept going with the verbal dance for forty minutes. I think I wore him down. After all, how can you accuse someone of eavesdropping a conversation, shouted so loudly it could be heard at twenty paces, over the top of the traffic?

image from http://www.123rf.com

So duty done, at the cost of an extra day, bruises to every part of my body from the bouncing in the potholes, and a two-hour delay onboard the return flight due to a speaker problem and I’m finally home. It will be two weeks before the judge brings his decision down so I will have to wait and find out later what happened. I trust justice will prevail. One thing I do know – if there comes a time when I might need a wheelchair temporarily, I’ll get a motorised one with extra padding! They are so uncomfortable. I suppose that’s what happens when you are spoilt… yet I was most grateful for the chair. There is little chance I could have made it around Sydney without it so for that I am grateful. I simply feel for all those people who don’t have any other choice, and I firmly believe we should so something about it for them.

Dancing with the Devils Advocate is definitely something best done when you are feeling a tad feisty. At least it helped me no end.

After that I have to wait another month to get my own verdict back – how lucky is that.

“Every trial results in a verdict, but not every verdict results in justice” Unknown

Blessings for the simple pleasures in life.. Susan x

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Skeletons in the closet – or – When Life Takes an Unexpected Turn – Part 2

Posted in Love, tagged Blind Justice, dating, Friendship, friendships, funnel web spider, happiness, justice, Life, life, Living from the heart, Love, New Beginnings, new beginnings, Relationships, soul mates, unconditional love on September 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »

couple in love

Couple in love, courtesy of istockphoto.com

“Love knows no boundaries” – Marius Gherghinescu.

For all the romantics who abound in this world, the above quote is most probably a truth they live by, however, for the many sceptics who feel all that ‘mushy’ love stuff is ridiculous, I’m sure they would prefer,

“There are none so blind as those who will not see”, a proverb traced back in English to John Heywood, 1546.

In reality both statements are true. Life simply cannot run as smoothly as a mill-pond. There will always be those twists and turns, which whilst unexpected, should really be expected because life never runs a smooth course. At least I haven’t heard of one going so smoothly. If life were so smooth, no bumps along the way, then it would be truly boring. Yet conversely, all those twists and turns, those bumps, the cavernous drops in the road ahead, all these can make life a struggle from beginning to end. It makes one wonder why anyone would bother with such a mammoth struggle. The reason why is simple, “Love Conquers All” which derives from the Latin phrase from Eclogue X by Virgil, “omnia vincit amor“. With love in your life, a belief in unconditional love from either another person or the Universe, all these hiccoughs along the way temper the character and make everyone appreciate the rich tapestry of life. In fact it irons out the twists, turns and bumps.

So where do the ‘skeletons in the closet” come in? That’s life, in all it’s rich and colourful complexity. The star struck couple have formed a deep friendship, trusting in each other and sharing the life lessons from their pasts which have made them into the people they are today. All is well, and time flows on smoothly. If there are any odd flashes of intuition which tells her that something isn’t quite what it seems to be, then she ignores it because she really wants to believe in him and doesn’t want to accept that there may be something, or several things which have been ‘glossed over”. In due time she finds out the wrong way ( is there ever a right way?) that the ‘glossing over’ is not a mild understatement but a complete obfuscation of fact! She has many faults of her own, not the least of which is an uncompromising view of the truth. In a world where white is never white and black is never black she holds the view that a lie is something which is something either said or misled or if omitted altogether is still a lie, a lie of omission. None of which fall under any category she allows as being acceptable. They jury is in and the gavel has fallen.
gavel

Gavel, image courtesy of saramarberry.blogspot.com

Through the unkind generosity of a computer hacker, who decides to disseminate the information gleaned back to her, she learns of every twist and turn her new-found love has travelled along life’s highway. The problem with this, he hasn’t told her about it, he has ‘fudged’ about other parts of it and completely obfuscated about a great deal of the rest. Does it really matter now? That’s a question a better person than she would need to answer. She only knows that the truth she holds so dear, especially after the misfortunes in her past love life, have left her without a clear barometer with which to calculate this information.

At every twist and turn this information rears its ugly head and plays havoc with her mind. She cannot, irrespective of how hard she tries, block it from her memory or ignore it. The questions multiply at an alarming rate and it threatens the peace and longevity of this wonderful relationship. There are many who would say it couldn’t be such a wonderful relationship if there are so many problems and lies at such an early stage, yet these are two people who know they have travelled life’s road many times before and are meant to be together again. This is a battle to put the past in perspective and relish the fortunes of the future, and so the truth will come out!

A business arrangement, from its outset blatantly abused by the other parties, has drained the reserves and strength of her partner. He had nowhere to turn and no one else to turn to. He was so close to finalising the business venture yet the capital fell short. Along came a funnel-web spider, disguised as a bleached blonde, intent on capturing its prey by whatever means at its disposal. Now, I cannot comment for anyone else but I hate spiders, and women who deliberately set out to ensnare men are lower than a spider. That’s simply my opinion. Here is an honest man, trying to do the right thing, being taken advantage of because of his good nature and is now falling into the clutches of a nasty death-dealing arachnid! Oh you can tell I don’t like spiders!
funnel web spider female

Female funnel-web spider ready to spring, image courtesy of smh.com.au

A business agreement is entered into and in time the business fails utterly. The man is devastated, everything he worked for is gone, without a penny to his name he has nowhere to live. Destitute. Does she act honourably? Does she understand the depth of despair this man is now drowning in? Not one whit! She blatantly propositions him for sexual favours. “Sleep” with her and work her farm and the loan is forgiven. Forgiven! Forgiven!! I must be dreaming. This is a business venture, a loan for a business venture and the business has collapsed. The business and loan have vanished into the ether and cannot be recovered. She is going to devour this man whichever way she can. Like any good flesh eating monster she simply revs up the attack.

What happens next? Being rebuffed does no good at all. She persists, like a spider who has its prey wrapped securely in a cocoon for digesting later, she sinks her fangs ever deeper and watches the death throes as he tries to survive.
funnel web abd prey

image courtesy of superstock.com
spider bite
funnel web bite – day 10. image courtesy of declubz.com

So what happens when his lady arrives on the scene and she, of the funnel-web analogy, finally cannot deny that her fangs have lost their deadly grip and he isn’t going to be her dinner? Then she becomes a death dealing viper, a fork tongued cold-blooded reptile who will destroy him in any way possible. She lies, she cheats, she tries to sue in court. She deliberately swears on oath that he lives in a place vacated years earlier. She knows where he is because she arrives uninvited one night and meets his new lady there. Yet lying to the court if the other party cannot get there to defend himself is easy. She glories in her perjury!

Synchronicity – what a wonderful thing. Through unbelievable twists and turns the information about the court case arrives at it’s intended destination, but not through any action of hers. With the smallest of margins ever he is able to get a defence lodged and fight the spurious claims she has perjured herself making. The truth finally sees the light of day. There is no validity of a court case where the truth is not in evidence. There is no possibility of a financial outcome. Even the solicitors are finally aware they have been duped by the venom of this creature. There has been a vexatious waste of the courts time as well as the solicitors, who cannot be recompensed for their time and efforts. Perhaps justice is served after all as the court throws the case out and the “plaintiff’ has to pay costs for bringing a claim without valid grounds. Justice is blind, I agree, but just occasionally Justice prevails, as it has this time.

Blind justice, image courtesy of boxing.com.