I like to think of myself as a civil servant that happens to also be a small business owner. I provide the denizens of the Mayberry-Mount Pilot Metroplex with liquid spirits so that they may pursue endeavors without the burdens of the middle class struggle. Do you think that Otis Campbell could go home to that battle ax of a wife without my help? Without me, Sheriff Taylor wouldn't have a reason to lock him up and he'd be stuck at home. You're welcome Mayberry-Mount Pilot Metroplex.With that being said, I think I might have chosen the wrong profession.
I went to the county courthouse with aspirations of positively adding to a custody hearing. I was a character witness for a father that was representing himself. This man did not know how to lawyer ("lawyer" can be used as a verb, look it up). He was attempting to testify while cross examining his wife he asked leading questions, hypothetical questions, made statements, and argued with his ex-wife. The opposing lawyer continually objected to these questions and statements and the judge consistently sustained them. After an hour, roughly 15 sustained objections, and three "last warnings", the judge declared the cross examination over, adjourned for the day, and stomped out. The judge gave no reasoning why every objection was sustained though he did display his disdain. His disdain grew with each objection until he finally stomped out. It was a tantrum fit for a five year old or an entitled old man.
My issue was not with the arrogant lawyer defending a mother who left her large family to defile her marriage bed with a man she met on Facebook and is now trying to cram 10 people in a three-bedroom doublewide, though that does draw my ire. My issue is that this father's representation of himself proved not to be a stumbling block but instead a tombstone. If the case were judged by us peasants, the father would win by TKO. Instead, the patrician class makes us play their game, without telling us the rules, and later decides not between right and wrong but instead who played the game at a superior level. This is wrong; this is America. Article One, Section Nine, Clause Eight of the US Constitution states: nobody is better than anyone else in America and people who act as such should be castrated. This applies to judges who recognize an emotional father fighting for his kids and won't take five seconds to explain you can't testify during a cross examination and you can't create hypothetical situations and demand answers. If the judge had done so, the case could have proceeded whereas it now stands that the obvious winner might lose due to not having his juris doctorate. This is wrong; this is America.
Today made me think long and hard about my chosen profession. I know I could make a good lawyer without continually playing lawyerball. I hope I have chosen the correct route of service for my life. Drink up Mayberry-Mount Pilot Metroplex.
