another first

first of all, let it go on the record that i blog to you today from the comfort of my front porch!

i had another first today. i went to court. not for me, but to attempt to seek some justice on behalf of a child, or rather, three children. i can't write about the case, but i can tell you that court was a very interesting place to be.

i arrived to find the sterile waiting room fairly empty, and made my way to a chair by the wall. thirty minutes later, i looked up from my book to find the room buzzing with lawyers, social workers, children, and parents of all sorts --biological, foster, etc. it was easy to put the book aside and just watch the happenings of the room. that is what i did, for the next three hours. not too long into my people watching, i figured out that there is a magical and powerful clipboard that hangs on the door to the court room. once your case name gets written on the that board, you know that you will get to enter the clipboard once the big bailiff guy calls your name. he called a lot of names, but never the one i waited for. why? because our name had yet to make it on the board. my supervisor came and briefed me on what would happen once we were inside. all i needed to remember was to say "no, your honor." i was pretty nervous about remembering the "your honor" part. two hours into this adventure our name finally made it to the clipboard, but it was dead last.

many of the people that had occupied the waiting area had been in and out of the court and were out frolicking in the beautiful afternoon. (well, maybe not frolicking. they did just leave court.) so i settled back into my chair with my book. the social worker on my case joined me and somewhat interruptedly began telling me useless stories. i gave her my book to read.

after three hours of sitting, the big bailiff guy called our case. i followed my supervisor into the room and kept saying to myself "no, your honor. no, your honor. no, your honor." we were all introduced and the three attorney's got to say their piece. i sat quietly and listened taking in the new pieces of information. i was listening intently until i realize there was a rather quiet, but yet distracting noise coming from the back corner of the room. not wanting to do anything that might get me arrested, i made a slow small move to get a glance at mr guy bailiff guy, asleep and snoring at his desk, in court! stuffing the giggles inside i turned my focus back to the person speaking and reminded myself of the words i would speak.

the "no, your honor" came out just fine, and we exited the room within fifteen minutes of entering. yes, three hours of waiting for fifteen minutes, a "no, your honor", and a snoring bailiff guy.

however, i must say that my court report was actually mentioned by the juvenile officer, and an attorney stopped me afterward and told me it was a great report. it's good to know the report is really worth something!

yet another "first" to cross off my list....as if court was on my list of things to experience....