Ethics, Integrity....

I have been sitting in a room staring at a poster for the last 2 hours. The poster stares back at me, questioning, accusing. It just inccessantly looks at me. It demands an answer. It will not be silenced.

It wants to know, 'Are you ethical? Do you have integrity?' I can't quite look the poster in the eye or should I say that I can only glance at it out of the corner of my eye for fear that lightning bolts will erupt from it's serifs and attack me.

I keep contemplating its accusation. That somehow it knows that last week I left an hour early because I looked at the clock I have yet to reset for daylight savings and decided that really WAS 4:30. That it knows that I haven't heard a word that has been said in this meeting but I stay because it might be better than being at my desk doing actual work. Maybe it knows that I sold out and took a comfortable corporate gig instead of sticking out the underpaid but oh-so-rewarding prosecution job. Maybe it has already foretold that I want to cheat on my taxes and get a bigger refund. perhaps it is judging me because even though I make all the right sounds of horror and disbelief, I secretly knew your marriage wasn't going to work and kinda want to say 'I told you so'.

Really, I just want to yell at the damn piece of cardboard. "I am not a nice person and you can't make me." So no, to answer its question. I suppose I am not ethical and sold my integrity for vacation and 401k.

Speechless with disgust.

I sometimes hate people. I really hate small minded idiotic back-assward, redneck, hillbilly, chauvinistic......you really don't need to hear the rest of this description. I recently was sitting in an office of a gentleman (and I use this term incorrectly b/c he was anything but) and having been kept waiting I surveyed his office. He had some pro-military posters, photos of guns, some prayer in needlepoint. None of those things really made me raise an eyebrow. I already had a pretty good idea of who I was dealing with and his office decor only reinforced my perception of him.

What torqued me off was his newest addition to his artistic collection. It depicted in a line, Hitler, Stalin and Obama (the latter sporting a new moustache to round out the trio). Now, I am all about the right to express yourself and your opinions. I understand that some really do not like the current President of the United States. That is their right as American citizens. Even so, this struck me as in terrible taste, especially in your office.

I sat in this man's office and couldn't concentrate because the poster distracted me. I couldn't get around it. It made me sick. I tried to keep my mouth shut. I tried to be professional. I tried to simply ignore it. I failed. Finally, I asked him how he could hang something like that in his office. He got this grin on his face and an evil look in his eye. "I knew you were one of those bleeding hearts" Okay, now I am pissed. "My political views and whether I am a fan of our current president or not has little bearing on why that is distasteful. You are comparing Obama to two of the most terrible men in modern history."
His response--what that man is doing to this country is terrible, a desecration, he is as bad as the other two, yadayadayada (I would try to recount more of his position except my blood pressure had skyrocketed so high I couldn't hear anything but the pounding in my ears).

"Quite frankly that poster makes me sick and so does your justification for displaying it. How dare you trivialize the atrocities those men committed by even suggesting that Obama's politics are on the same level! How can you disrespect the memory of so many innocents that were tortured and slaughtered? Do you understand what that poster actually does? You mean it as a dig at Obama but by suggesting that what the President has done during his service to the USA is even comparable to the other men you make what Hitler and Stalin did less horrible. You spit on the experiences of the survivors and desecrate the memory of the dead. You really should think about statements like that and the power behind them."

Him--"You could have just said you were Jewish."
WTF?!? Yeah because the only way I would be sensitive to the message that poster is sending is because I'm Jewish? "I'm not Jewish".
A look at confusion came across his face and he just shrugged at me like it was some sort of crazy mystical reason why I'm reacting the way I am.

I don't think I'm one of those overly-sensitive (I'm trying to think of the way a friend describes it), hyper-politically correct social crusader. That poster just made me sick and I think it is necessary to confront that sort of callousness.

I would really appreciate some thoughts on this. Am I a hypocrite b/c I criticized his choice of expression? Did I do the right or wrong thing?

Just keep walking, no matter what.

So I have long held to the theory that if you look like you know where you're going, no one will stop you to ask if you actually belong there. This trick has worked for me in the past, getting backstage at concerts and to locker rooms at sporting events. Today I found a new application for this trick. BTW, I am a bad person and karma is going to kick my ass.

MM's mom has been in the hospital in a nearby city. I have been going back and forth between where we live and this city to visit, help him, cook dinner for he and his sister, etc. Last night she took an unexpected turn and he stayed the night in the hospital. His sister and I went back to the house at roughly 2 am. I got up at 6, fed the dogs, etc. MM's dog is a big black lab who needs excercise to prevent him from being too hyper while locked in the house. So I set off on a walk with the dog at 6:30 am. I do not take baggies with me as I thought the business was done. The dog and I round the corner and are about halfway down the block where a woman is washing her car in the driveway. Who washes their car at 6:30 am? Anyway, as luck would have it, the dog decides he is having gastroinstestinal issues. He walks straight up this woman's driveway and proceeds to poo all over her concrete. I am mortified. I have no idea what to do. I have no baggies, the dog isn't on a leash (against the law), and he has just taken a dump on her driveway. In my mind, I run through a few possible scenarios but quickly decide that feigning ignorance is the best option.
In my pjs and flipflops with cigarette hanging out of my mouth, I just keep walking, pretend like the dog doesn't belong with me and that I am just out for a morning stroll. I pretend that I haven't witnessed this and that it isn't any concern of mine anyway. I just kept walking. I'm pretty sure that is one of the worst things I have ever done.

Am I the only person who took Civ Pro?

Okay, I am totally going on a law geek rant. For those of you not interested, well you know.

Civil Procedure folks. Remember it? It generally is split into two courses cleverly named Civ Pro I and *gasp* Civ Pro II. There are even these handy dandy things called the Rules of Civil Procedure. This is not that hard. If you are a practicing attorney, you passed the effin bar exam. Civ Pro was on it, I guarantee.

Now the reason I am ranting about this you ask? Because some dumbass law firm apparently doesn't know its ass from a hole in the ground. They can't figure out the correct procedure for service of process. Now, I have to screw about with a 12(b) motion, they will ask the judge to grant them leave to correct service, the judge will grant it, theoretically they will do it right a second time and everyone's time will be wasted.
Note: If you are suing a person in their individual capacity rather than as an agent of a corporation, you must serve the person. Dropping a summons off at an office where that person does not work and has never worked....not service.
My rant for today....please do your jobs right the first time. I am too busy for this shit.

My shoes aren't pointy enough today

So, my friends and I have some funny statements we like to use. One of my favorites is used when frustrated or angry.

He makes me so angry I just want to kick him in the shins. Now, if any of you have ever been kicked in the shin, you know it hurts. As situations warranted we came up with other variations but the final version I believe is priceless.

I want to kick him in the shins, with the pointy shoes. You all know the shoes I am talking about. They come to a definitive point about 2 inches past the end of the toe and are hard! As you can imagine, this would cause pain when it comes into contact with someone's shin and gives me the delightful release of kicking the person who is currently the cause of my latest headache.

You may be wondering why I'm telling you about this saying between me and my girlfriends this morning. The reason is this: I was in a meeting this morning with some colleagues and one dumbass hasn't been doing his job. Well instead the man being punished, I get 'rewarded'. In other words, I get 5 of his projects on top of the rest of the shit I do. This seems more like punishment than a reward but whatever.

While sitting in this meeting and looking at the lazy ass, the thought crossed my mind that I wanted to kick him in the shins but it would have to wait till tomorrow because I am not wearing sufficiently pointy shoes today. So I left the meeting, opened Outlook calendar and created an appointment for tomorrow. The appointment says, "Wear pointy brown sling backs, comfortable pants, and kick Dumbass in the shins. Box to pack stuff in after being fired optional."

PPS: I know my feet look fat but I couldn't figure out how to take a picture of my own feet from a flattering angle. Thanks for mentioning it though.