Of Courtrooms and Judges

America’s Court System is ridiculous.  There is so much paperwork that even if you are 100% in the right, your case could be dismissed because you spelled the other person’s name wrong.  I went to court today for the first time and was astounded over and over again by the absurd hoops that people have to jump through to receive the tiniest judgment. One defendant’s case was postponed yet another month because the small claims office had made a clerical error.  It was fixable in 5 minutes but the court wouldn’t wait or even push their case until the end of the day. 

I spent hours upon hours going through the State of California’s website printing off every sheet possible and filling out paperwork that wasn’t necessary just to make sure that nothing stupid happened to my case.  But then again, I’m practically unemployed.  I can’t imagine having gone through this with a full time job and a family.  I didn’t even have time to fill out the extremely detailed expenses paperwork to see if the court would waive the $50 court fee.  Thankfully, the judge awarded me those fees anyways.  One guy spent $79 to serve someone twice because the first time didn’t work, and the court only awarded him one of them.  I even talked to 3 lawyer friends about my case and what to do or say before and during the hearing because the court’s phone system sent me through a 20 minute menu just to hit a dead end.  And that happened multiple times.  And the people in the small claims office refuse to answer even the smallest question.  They just tell you to call that number and wait until the very end to reach a representative.  I promise you, it didn’t work.  I tried.  It was a waste of time.  But the worst part is that you basically throw yourself overboard and hope that you float because you can’t have any kind of legal representation or counsel in the court with you even if you could afford it.

Through all of this, I still didn’t do everything correctly.  I printed off the directions form for serving someone and nowhere does it say that after they are served do you have to file that service with the court.  They looked at me like I was crazy or stupid but thankfully allowed it because I had proof and receipts.  Seriously, I don’t know why anyone would want to be a judge or a lawyer or anything even related to it.  It is monotonous as hell and ludicrous as to how much paperwork and arguing there is over details that have absolutely nothing to do with the case.  I realize that some of these requirements are to ensure fairness, but the lengths to which one must go for a small claims ruling is preposterous.

I really shouldn’t be complaining though, because in the end it worked out for me.  But seriously…so annoying.

The State of Things

I feel like I’ve gotten to a point in my career where I have to trust people that I don’t know with this thing that means everything to me.  I’ve been called gullible and too trusting, but I don’t think that success is going to come from being closed minded and guarded.  I need to be me and I’m going to do whatever it takes to do that.  If that means that I get screwed over once in a while, then that unfortunately something that I have to deal with.  People are never who they appear to be, but I have to trust what I know about people and myself and trust that those things will lead me in the right direction.

I wish there was a checklist that I could do to the best of my ability and then have the career that I want.  I feel like I’m always looking for new things to do, new places to go, and new ways to meet people to break into this industry.  I take a look at the end of each year to see what I’ve accomplished and its clear that I’m making progress.  I just wish it would go a pinch faster. I can only hope that what I’m working for is worth it.  I can’t imagine doing anything else and still being happy.  I feel like I’ve always known what I wanted to do and never had to make the decision to do it.  I don’t remember deciding what to go to college for or picking a career.  It just was. And now is.  I’m so blessed to be able to do what I love and am working my ass off to make sure that this blessing doesn’t go to waste.