PromoGuy's Monday Mission 2.44

1. Have you ever had to appear in court? What was the reason? How did it turn out?

Naw, that was just traffic court. The case got thrown out. Wanna hear about it?

On my 23rd birthday, I was driving home from work. My co-workers had given me a balloon and flower arrangement, and it was sitting in the back of the car, and the flowers were particularly fragrant, which while pleasant, was really starting to annoy my allergies.

Rush hour traffic in Chicago can be quite the bitch, and that was no exception on that day. I was in a jam, not moving at all, when suddenly, I had to sneeze. I did so, rather violently, hitting the gas pedal and the break at the same time. As a result, I tapped the car in front of me. The woman driving the car in front of me lost her mind. She was bawling about how her husband was going to freak. She insisted on getting a police report, which resulted in me getting a ticket for "following too closely". Following? My ass buddy, this was bumper to bumper rush hour gridlock.

Anyway.

The cop didn't even want to give me a ticket - there wasn't even a scratch on either of our cars. But she insisted. Naturally, I contested and we went to court. Two months later, when traffic court convened, the judge looked at the report and said "There was no damage to either car?"
The ticketing officer said "no".
" I assume nobody was hurt?" said the judge.
"Nope" said the cop. "Why are we here?" Said the Judge. "Is the plaintiff here today?"
"Yes" said the plaintiff.
"Are you here because you are pressing some kind of charges?"
"Nope" said the woman. "I have just never been to traffic court before, and I was wondering what it was like."

The deal is, if she hadn't have come, I could have gone home, rather than sitting there waiting and waiting and waiting for our case to come up. The waiting cost me ½ day's pay at work, which at the time was a big deal for me. A very big deal.

The Judge wasn't amused either. He said something about the crime in wasting the court's time, and gave her a $75 fine for abuse of court time.

2. Ever been accused of something you never did? Were you able to convince anyone?

Well, yeah, I am the youngest of 3, so I got blamed for stuff all the time. But if you mean real-life legal stuff the answer is no.

3. When it comes to crime and punishment, do you agree with the saying "An eye for an eye?"

I say "Hell of a long novel!" "An eye for an eye makes the world go blind" "How can a state justify killing people to prove that killing is wrong?"

4. Are you a judgmental person? Do you ever make up your mind about a person before you know them? When was the last time that happened? Or if not, how do
you keep from being judgmental?
.
I am sure I judge people. I do try not to, because of the whole "lest ye be judged" thing. And living in a glass house really makes it stupid for me to cast stones.

5. When I was in 6th grade I lit a match in class accidentally and was given the choice of having my folks called or getting 10 "swats." I took swats and damn, that wooden paddle with the holes drilled in it hurt like hell (not to mention the horrible whistling sound it made before impact). I don't think they allow "swats" anymore. Ever get "swats" at school? How do you feel about children being spanked in school. Is it best that they don't do that anymore? How about parents spanking kids? Good or bad?

Ok, first off, how does someone "accidentally" light a match? What were you doing with matches in the first place? No. I did not go to a school where corporeal punishment was tolerated. I don't think teachers should be swatting their students anyhow. Just send them to the principal or send them home. Teachers are not babysitters. Not being a parent, I guess I shouldn't be judgmental about whether kids should get spanked home either. But should I ever release my own spawn, I
would be against hitting them. I don't see how it does anything but assist a parent in venting their rage. Children are not punching bags. They are people. People who grow up in a violent household become violent people.

6. What is your favorite "Chick Flick?"

What is a "chick flick" exactly?

7. Describe the last situation you were in that can best be summed up by the phrase "seemed like a good idea at the time?"

See yesterday's blog.