This is National Court Reporting and Captioning Week. I thought in honor of this week I would write about why I became a court reporter, and why I love being a court reporter. I hope someone who reads this may be motivated to becoming a court reporter too.
I was always a good typist. I also physically enjoyed sitting at a desk typing, but I didn't know of any specific career as a "typist". I was vaguely familar with the profession of court reporting, mostly by seeing it depicted in TV or movies. I always assumed what they were typing onto those thin strips of paper were symbols of some type, similar to Gregg shorthand.
I had worked in radio for a while, but left that field because I wanted more stability both professionally and personally. A lot of the radio people I knew, while interesting personalities, tended to be kind of crazy. I wanted a family and home so I got out of radio. Next I worked by the NFTA, the transit authority in Western New York. That job gave me the stability I was looking for, but as I moved up the ladder I became a supervisor. I found out that not only am I lousy at supervising people, but I hated doing it. I just really didn't want to be that involved in other people's lives and problems.
I was expressing my job dissatisfaction to my husband's family, when my sister-in-law, who was a court reporter and owned her own freelance firm, suggested I go to court reporting school. You know how it is when everything just kind of clicks in place easily and you take that as a sign that something was meant to be? That's how it was with court reporting. I called the school; someone answered the phone right away. I asked for more information about the program; there was an open house the next week. The school was two nights a week so I could continue to work. Tuition was reasonable and on a "pay-as-you-go" schedule. Everything was just easy. Oh, and by the way, once I was done with school there was a job waiting for me at my sister-in-law's firm.
I finished school in two and a half years, but began working five months before I actually graduated. For me, working helped me get out of school. Due to high demand for freelance court reporters at the time, I was thrown right into the fire from the frying pan, so to speak. I was forced to do all day, fast paced depositions within my first month. Doing that prolonged speed writing helped me pass the final tests to get out of school. Eleven years and four months later, I'm an official reporter for the New York State Unified Court System.
So why do I love being a court reporter? The first thing that comes to mind is that I'm an observer. If I go to a crowded mall or event, I people watch. My seat as a court reporter is great for people watching. I always look at people's shoes. I also look at tattoos, hair styles, they way they interact with their lawyer, their facial expressions, if they look at their ex or not, if they look at the judge, and if they look at me. I get to sit at my little machine all day, not have to say a word, not have to make a decision about people's lives, but I do get to absorb all this interesting information about them.
Another reason I love being a court reporter is because I love language. It's great to listen to people speak, and often misspeak. People make me laugh inside when they use words like "conversate" or "scare tastics".
I also notice how some people will talk so slow as to put you to sleep, while others speak so fast that I swear there's flames coming out of my fingers by the time they're done. Some people, mostly lawyers, will repeat their thought, often in the same sentence. Do they think by saying it twice they judge will believe them more?
Court reporting also allows me to work in an environment with mostly smart people. The judge, lawyers and court staff are educated, intelligent people. They have informed viewpoints about a number of subjects, not all of them work-related. In downtimes we can talk about current events, entertainment, books and politics. While we may not always agree, at least we can have the conversation. In my previous professions, I haven't found that to be true.
My physical surroundings are pleasant. Courthouses are generally nice environments. You're in a secure place. There are court officers to protect you. My chair is comfortable. I have all my stuff around me. I don't think I could work outside without my Keurig coffeemaker and pictures of my kids. I have access to phones and the internet. I have a reserved parking space about 25 yards from the building. We have parties for birthdays and holidays. A bathroom is nearby. While this stuff might sound trite, try being a bus driver or a mailman. They have none of these things that we take for granted at their disposal while working.
Court reporting is a respected profession. When I tell people what I do they usually say things like "I always wondered what it would be like to be a court reporter." People are slightly in awe of how fast we can write what others are saying. There's not a lot of us either, so we're a little special. That feels nice. I must say that being a court reporter for a judge feels like a more respected job that a freelance court reporter. I think lawyers assume that you're buddy-buddy with the judge so they're a little nicer to you. In my case I am buddy-buddy with the judge so you better treat me right! Just kidding.
The final reason I love of court reporting is the money I can make. I have a very nice salary, plus transcript income. I also have a pension and benefits. It's allowed my husband and I to save a lot of money for our sons' college so that they won't have any student debt. It's allowed us to live in a nice home. It's allowed us to go on a couple of nice vacations. Those things are important.
But I consciously put money last in my list because it truly is the least important of the reasons I love my job. Whenever I read an article about why someone became a court reporter and the first thing they mention is the money, I kind of cringe. It's been my experience that court reporters have a reputation as being money-grubbing. I try to downplay that aspect of why I love the job. If I didn't like the job, I don't care how much I could make doing it, I wouldn't do it. It's the other things that I've mentioned that keep me in the profession.
But while we're on the subject of money, I want to address why court reporters make such a good salary. It's not because we work hard. Believe me, there are plenty of people that work hard that don't make the money we make. It's not because we've gone to school and gotten advanced degrees. Most court reporters I know don't have a college degree. The reason we make the money we do is because there are only a limited number of people that can physically do this job. There is talent involved. All of us court reporters have a talent for it, the same way a quarterback has a talent for throwing a football fifty yards down the field while avoiding a sack, or a pitcher can throw a curve ball. No matter how much practicing you do, some people, actually the majority of people, just can't do it. Court reporting is a performance job.
When explaining this concept to people I tell them that if I went to a school that specifically taught someone how to run a mile in less than 7 minutes, I would never graduatet from that school. I don't care how much I practiced and ran and cross-trained, I just will never be able to run that fast. That's unfortunately the way it is in court reporting. Only a few people can do it. In my class of about 35 people, only two of us graduated. I'm glad I was one of them.
So if you're a court reporter reading this, be thankful that you possess this talent. It's given you a nice career. And if you're thinking about becoming a court reporter, the only way you'll find out if you can do it, is by trying. Who knows, you may have the knack for it.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Friday, November 30, 2012
To Mark Or Not To Mark...
...that is the question. Marking exhibits are one of those things in court reporting that can be as routine as setting up your machine, or a real hassle. So what's the big deal with marking exhibits? Don't you just make out a sticker, put it on the document and write it into the record? In a perfect world, yes, that's how it works. But time-crazed attorneys often make things harder than they need to be.
Here's what happened to me recently, that made me want to write this blog. We were about to start a hearing when one of the attorneys involved was called to another courtroom briefly. Everyone else stayed in the courtroom, except the judge. We were not on the record yet. The remaining attorney handed me a document and asked me to mark it as an exhibit. I told him I prefer to wait until we are on the record to mark an exhibit. I did make out the sticker at that time though but did not attach it to the document. The other attorney returns, the judge takes the bench and we go on the record. Then the attorney who previously was absent from the courtroom indignantly stated that she was just informed by her client that something was put onto the record while she, the attorney, was out of the room.
At this point the judge looked at me and I told him that nothing was put on the record in anyone's absence. Indignant absentee lawyer then stated that her client informed her that the other attorney gave the reporter a document. I explained to the judge that I did not mark the document because we weren't on the record yet. I'm sure I sounded totally pissed off when I said this. I was mad at the lawyer who asked me to mark something off the record. He has been an attorney for many years but still doesn't seem to know the rules. In his mind he was trying to "save time" by having it marked ahead of time, but you can see the kind of procedural landmine this can create. I was also mad at the client who had such a smug look on her face as she was sure she was "tattling" on me and the other lawyer.
After getting this cleared up we began the day's questioning. The first thing the lawyer who tried to have the exhibit marked did was refer to the "exhibit we just marked." Oh my God, doesn't anybody listen to me?! This is now the third time I've had to explain that the document hasn't been marked yet. So after three times the lawyer finally learned and asked to have the document marked on the record. Of course, this document was absolutely irrelevant to his case, and the judge said so when he refused to accept it into evidence.
Lawyers do seem to try to play with exhibit marking in order to save time. You can see by my recent experience though that it actually adds time, and confusion....not to mention making the court reporter mad.
I do have to admit that I have pre-marked exhibits in the past, sometimes without problem, and sometimes with a problem. When I worked in the DA's Office the ADAs always gave you the exhibits to mark before we got on the record. If you've ever sat in a grand jury, or reported a grand jury, you probably know that the presentments are rather short and the ADAs very well prepared. They know exactly what they're going to ask the witnesses and what exhibits they'll need and in what order. I never marked an exhibit in grand jury that wasn't used. The ADAs have got their s**t down.
There was also an extremely organized attorney at the State Attorney General's Office who handled very complex consumer fraud cases on a state-wide basis. He would often use hundreds of exhibits. One time myself and another reporter were actually paid a per diem rate to go to the Attorney General's Office and pre-mark exhibits for a half a day. But since these exhibits would be used over the course of many depositions over a span of time we just put the stickers on them and created a description sheet. We didn't actually enter then into the record until we were doing the depositions and the exhibits were used.
But as organized as that AAG was there was another who was just as disorganized. Again, hundreds of exhibits pre-marked and a description sheet made out. This one would forget to use certain exhibits, refer to and enter things out of order, leading to a very confused record. An exhibit index looks pretty crappy when you have Exhibit 1 and then its description, and then the next exhibit listed is number 13. It leads a reader to wonder what the heck happened to Exhibits 2 through 12. Those exhibits ended up in another deposition.
So what to do with exhibits and when to mark them? In a situation when there's a large amount of exhibits and I know the attorney well and am confident he's going to use the exhibits in the order we marked them I would put the stickers on them and make out a description sheet. I would only write them into the record once we are on the record and the attorney actually presents them to the witness.
If there's a large amount of exhibits and I'm unsure if the exhibits will be used in their numerical order I would not pre-mark them. I would ask the lawyer for an estimate of how many exhibits he/she will want marked, and then I would make out the exhibit stickers in advance, but I would not put them on the documents.
In a situation where there's only a few exhibits, I will not pre-mark them. We do everything as we go along, on the record. The little time you save is not worth the potential confusion and hassle.
As I've been writing this blog and I thought about the very organized AAG who used all his exhibits (he's head of the State Liquor Authority now, by the way) I was reminded of one of the funniest exhibits I ever marked; it was on one of his cases. He was investigating an investment scam where a woman convinced people to invest in, or all things, a double-headed bingo dabber. Several examples of a "double-headed bingo dabber" were marked ,and quite frankly, they looked like dildos. It was so hilarious that every time we did a deposition in this case the AAG would take out the assortment of bingo dabbers and place them right in the middle of the table. They would just be there the entire time, whether we needed those exhibits or not. He did it just for laughs. That's one lawyer and his approach to exhibits that I really miss.
Here's what happened to me recently, that made me want to write this blog. We were about to start a hearing when one of the attorneys involved was called to another courtroom briefly. Everyone else stayed in the courtroom, except the judge. We were not on the record yet. The remaining attorney handed me a document and asked me to mark it as an exhibit. I told him I prefer to wait until we are on the record to mark an exhibit. I did make out the sticker at that time though but did not attach it to the document. The other attorney returns, the judge takes the bench and we go on the record. Then the attorney who previously was absent from the courtroom indignantly stated that she was just informed by her client that something was put onto the record while she, the attorney, was out of the room.
At this point the judge looked at me and I told him that nothing was put on the record in anyone's absence. Indignant absentee lawyer then stated that her client informed her that the other attorney gave the reporter a document. I explained to the judge that I did not mark the document because we weren't on the record yet. I'm sure I sounded totally pissed off when I said this. I was mad at the lawyer who asked me to mark something off the record. He has been an attorney for many years but still doesn't seem to know the rules. In his mind he was trying to "save time" by having it marked ahead of time, but you can see the kind of procedural landmine this can create. I was also mad at the client who had such a smug look on her face as she was sure she was "tattling" on me and the other lawyer.
After getting this cleared up we began the day's questioning. The first thing the lawyer who tried to have the exhibit marked did was refer to the "exhibit we just marked." Oh my God, doesn't anybody listen to me?! This is now the third time I've had to explain that the document hasn't been marked yet. So after three times the lawyer finally learned and asked to have the document marked on the record. Of course, this document was absolutely irrelevant to his case, and the judge said so when he refused to accept it into evidence.
Lawyers do seem to try to play with exhibit marking in order to save time. You can see by my recent experience though that it actually adds time, and confusion....not to mention making the court reporter mad.
I do have to admit that I have pre-marked exhibits in the past, sometimes without problem, and sometimes with a problem. When I worked in the DA's Office the ADAs always gave you the exhibits to mark before we got on the record. If you've ever sat in a grand jury, or reported a grand jury, you probably know that the presentments are rather short and the ADAs very well prepared. They know exactly what they're going to ask the witnesses and what exhibits they'll need and in what order. I never marked an exhibit in grand jury that wasn't used. The ADAs have got their s**t down.
There was also an extremely organized attorney at the State Attorney General's Office who handled very complex consumer fraud cases on a state-wide basis. He would often use hundreds of exhibits. One time myself and another reporter were actually paid a per diem rate to go to the Attorney General's Office and pre-mark exhibits for a half a day. But since these exhibits would be used over the course of many depositions over a span of time we just put the stickers on them and created a description sheet. We didn't actually enter then into the record until we were doing the depositions and the exhibits were used.
But as organized as that AAG was there was another who was just as disorganized. Again, hundreds of exhibits pre-marked and a description sheet made out. This one would forget to use certain exhibits, refer to and enter things out of order, leading to a very confused record. An exhibit index looks pretty crappy when you have Exhibit 1 and then its description, and then the next exhibit listed is number 13. It leads a reader to wonder what the heck happened to Exhibits 2 through 12. Those exhibits ended up in another deposition.
So what to do with exhibits and when to mark them? In a situation when there's a large amount of exhibits and I know the attorney well and am confident he's going to use the exhibits in the order we marked them I would put the stickers on them and make out a description sheet. I would only write them into the record once we are on the record and the attorney actually presents them to the witness.
If there's a large amount of exhibits and I'm unsure if the exhibits will be used in their numerical order I would not pre-mark them. I would ask the lawyer for an estimate of how many exhibits he/she will want marked, and then I would make out the exhibit stickers in advance, but I would not put them on the documents.
In a situation where there's only a few exhibits, I will not pre-mark them. We do everything as we go along, on the record. The little time you save is not worth the potential confusion and hassle.
As I've been writing this blog and I thought about the very organized AAG who used all his exhibits (he's head of the State Liquor Authority now, by the way) I was reminded of one of the funniest exhibits I ever marked; it was on one of his cases. He was investigating an investment scam where a woman convinced people to invest in, or all things, a double-headed bingo dabber. Several examples of a "double-headed bingo dabber" were marked ,and quite frankly, they looked like dildos. It was so hilarious that every time we did a deposition in this case the AAG would take out the assortment of bingo dabbers and place them right in the middle of the table. They would just be there the entire time, whether we needed those exhibits or not. He did it just for laughs. That's one lawyer and his approach to exhibits that I really miss.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Surprise, Surprise
I really love surprises. But because I'm the "Mom" I rarely get surprised. I usually organize all the parties, plan our vacations and buy Christmas presents, including my own. And the men in my life (my husband and two sons) are sort of cautious people who want to check with me before they buy me a birthday present. I usually just say "Lets just go out to dinner together." Hence, I rarely get a birthday present, and I certainly never get surprised. I guess what I really am looking for in a surprise is to think that there's someone in my life that "gets" me enough to know how to surprise me. For example, I wish someone in my life knew that I really want a pair of Bastad clogs like I had in high school. I'm part Dutch and my feet were made to wear a wooden shoe. But of course now the cat is out of the bag and if anyone got me Bastad clogs it wouldn't count because it wouldn't be a surprise. I'll be getting myself a pair of Bastad clogs soon.
I'm not the type of person to feel sorry for myself though so I won't dwell on not being surprised by material things. I've decided that I'm going to let myself be surprised by life's happenings and its many twists and turns.
2011 was full of surprises. I had breast cancer. I felt absolutely fine and so that was a bit of a surprise. It was only stage zero and quickly resolved. I decided to embrace this little health-related surprise as a reminder that I am a vulnerable human being like everyone else. It also made me realize how much sicker so many other people are and to be thankful that overall I'm pretty healthy. This surprise also showed me how wonderful modern medicine is.
I had a relatively new friend at this time, Joan, who surprised me by sending me flowers as I was recovering. I love getting delivered flowers! And getting those flowers from her not only showed me what a considerate person she is, but also that she valued our friendship. We're super good friends now, what regular readers of my blog will recognize as a "Tier One Friend". Finally, this diagnosis happened a few months after starting a new job. I was surprised at how kind and accommodating my new boss was.
Another surprise in 2011 was that my mother got ill and entered assisted living. My mother constantly surprised me. I thought she was going to hold out indefinitely to remain in her house. But what a surprise when she told me she didn't like being alone, knew she needed help, and wanted to move to assisted living. Once in assisted living I was expecting her to be a disaster. She was a bit of a solitary person and I didn't think she would make friends and attend activities at the facility. She surprised me again. While she wasn't a social butterfly, she did make friends and go to events, in moderation.
I surprised my mom by getting her a canary to keep her company. I expected her to reject the bird as too much trouble. Surprise! She loved that little bird and it became a big focus of her life. I actually don't like birds very much, probably because I'm a little afraid of them. But when my mother passed away I inherited the bird. Well, guess what. I love that bird. Another surprise!
More recently, this past weekend in fact, I was happily surprised by a couple of people. I lead a hike for an outdoors club that I'm a member of. When I met one of the participants, she had on, not hiking boots but sneakers, and she was completely made up in makeup. I didn't think physically she would be up to the hike. Also, the first impression that she made to me was that she was a bit of an oddball. Was I surprised! I spoke with her off and on the entire day and she was a wonderful, interesting person. And she had absolutely no problem physically keeping up on the hike.
There was another woman who met up with our hiking group in the middle of the day. She was an older lady who, quite frankly, was a bit of a pain leading up to the hike. She called me a couple of times, hemmed and hawed about where we were going, when we had to be there, the weather, what we were doing, etc... When we finally met up with her and we began talking and walking I found her to be a completely kind and intelligent woman with lots of fun observations. She even went out to lunch with us. And by the way, during the hike we were surprised to see a flock of wild turkeys, a gigantic turtle and deer. I actually gasped in surprise a couple of times.
And being a court reporter, I'm surprised with almost every matter that comes before my judge in the courtroom. The person who sometimes looks like a hobo, will often be the best parent. Conversely, sometimes the person dressed to the nines will be the abusive drug addict.
And while I don't want to be surprised with a broken furnace this winter, I will say that I still love surprises. I've learned that I'm not going to get surprises through parties or gifts. I'm going to be surprised, happily always, by the course my life is taking and the people who populate it.
I'm not the type of person to feel sorry for myself though so I won't dwell on not being surprised by material things. I've decided that I'm going to let myself be surprised by life's happenings and its many twists and turns.
2011 was full of surprises. I had breast cancer. I felt absolutely fine and so that was a bit of a surprise. It was only stage zero and quickly resolved. I decided to embrace this little health-related surprise as a reminder that I am a vulnerable human being like everyone else. It also made me realize how much sicker so many other people are and to be thankful that overall I'm pretty healthy. This surprise also showed me how wonderful modern medicine is.
I had a relatively new friend at this time, Joan, who surprised me by sending me flowers as I was recovering. I love getting delivered flowers! And getting those flowers from her not only showed me what a considerate person she is, but also that she valued our friendship. We're super good friends now, what regular readers of my blog will recognize as a "Tier One Friend". Finally, this diagnosis happened a few months after starting a new job. I was surprised at how kind and accommodating my new boss was.
Another surprise in 2011 was that my mother got ill and entered assisted living. My mother constantly surprised me. I thought she was going to hold out indefinitely to remain in her house. But what a surprise when she told me she didn't like being alone, knew she needed help, and wanted to move to assisted living. Once in assisted living I was expecting her to be a disaster. She was a bit of a solitary person and I didn't think she would make friends and attend activities at the facility. She surprised me again. While she wasn't a social butterfly, she did make friends and go to events, in moderation.
I surprised my mom by getting her a canary to keep her company. I expected her to reject the bird as too much trouble. Surprise! She loved that little bird and it became a big focus of her life. I actually don't like birds very much, probably because I'm a little afraid of them. But when my mother passed away I inherited the bird. Well, guess what. I love that bird. Another surprise!
More recently, this past weekend in fact, I was happily surprised by a couple of people. I lead a hike for an outdoors club that I'm a member of. When I met one of the participants, she had on, not hiking boots but sneakers, and she was completely made up in makeup. I didn't think physically she would be up to the hike. Also, the first impression that she made to me was that she was a bit of an oddball. Was I surprised! I spoke with her off and on the entire day and she was a wonderful, interesting person. And she had absolutely no problem physically keeping up on the hike.
There was another woman who met up with our hiking group in the middle of the day. She was an older lady who, quite frankly, was a bit of a pain leading up to the hike. She called me a couple of times, hemmed and hawed about where we were going, when we had to be there, the weather, what we were doing, etc... When we finally met up with her and we began talking and walking I found her to be a completely kind and intelligent woman with lots of fun observations. She even went out to lunch with us. And by the way, during the hike we were surprised to see a flock of wild turkeys, a gigantic turtle and deer. I actually gasped in surprise a couple of times.
And being a court reporter, I'm surprised with almost every matter that comes before my judge in the courtroom. The person who sometimes looks like a hobo, will often be the best parent. Conversely, sometimes the person dressed to the nines will be the abusive drug addict.
And while I don't want to be surprised with a broken furnace this winter, I will say that I still love surprises. I've learned that I'm not going to get surprises through parties or gifts. I'm going to be surprised, happily always, by the course my life is taking and the people who populate it.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
I'm Sorry, I Don't Speak The Language
I recently spent some time in the foreign country of Medicaland, otherwise known as the hospital. My elderly, ill mother had a health crisis that ultimately led to her death and myself and my family members spent a little over a week in Medicaland trying to understand the language. The actual words the natives of Medicaland used were English language words, and I understood the construction of the sentences they were speaking, but I really struggled with the context.
Let me give you an example. My mother had a terminal illness. She was in the ICU. The doctor called me in to discuss where we were going with her care because she had no chance of survival. As I walked in the door of the ICU my mother's nurse said to me, "She's doing much better today." What???? I thought we were about to discuss putting my mom in palliative care and the nurse is telling me she's doing better. When a nurse tells you someone is doing better, it makes you question if you should be letting them die. It really messes up your thought process and adds stress to an already horrible, impossible situation.
Time and reflection has allowed me to understand what the nurse really meant when she said "She's doing much better today." What she really was saying was "Your mom is a sweet lady, I'm sorry she's dying, and I'm trying to make you and me feel better right at this moment by saying she's doing better." My mom wasn't doing better, but when a nurse tells you that she thinks your mom is doing better, if you don't speak their language, you don't understand that. You take the nurse at her word that your mom is doing better.
That's just one example among many that occurred over the eight days I spent in Medicaland. But I eventually got proficient at Medicalanguage. Towards the end I was able to communicate very effectively with the natives. I asked the right questions at the right times. I listened to my inner voice that would be saying, "I don't get that." I asked follow-up questions where I would rephrase what they were saying into common English. I got through it and learned a lot.
But my experience got me thinking about the language that I speak where I live (at least for eight hours a day, Monday through Friday). I live in Legalopia and speak Legalingo. This is the language of judges, lawyers, clerks and other court personnel. To us phrases like, "file a petition", "we don't grant adjournments to petitioners on the day of the first appearance, and "Has there been an adjudication of paternity?" are all phrases that roll off our tongues as easily as "Sure, I'll have another".
We have to remember that most of the people that need the services of the courts don't live in our world. They hear the words, they know that they're English words, but because they don't live in Legalopia they don't always understand the context. For those of you reading this that also don't live in Legalopia, a translation of "file a petition" is fill out a form to tell the court why you want what you want and why you should get it. "We don't grant adjournments to petitioners on the day of the first appearnce" means you should have called us earlier, besides you started this whole thing and if you don't show up, the judge is going to throw it out. Finally, "Has there been an adjudication of paternity?" means has anyone been named as the father. Isn't that simpler?
So my suggestion to those that speak Legalingo is to remember that we're the natives, the general public is visiting our land, and we need to be good hosts and speak as plainly as we can to them. Save the Legalingo for each other, and speak common English to our guests. If we did that, I believe there would be less confusion and stress for everyone.
Let me give you an example. My mother had a terminal illness. She was in the ICU. The doctor called me in to discuss where we were going with her care because she had no chance of survival. As I walked in the door of the ICU my mother's nurse said to me, "She's doing much better today." What???? I thought we were about to discuss putting my mom in palliative care and the nurse is telling me she's doing better. When a nurse tells you someone is doing better, it makes you question if you should be letting them die. It really messes up your thought process and adds stress to an already horrible, impossible situation.
Time and reflection has allowed me to understand what the nurse really meant when she said "She's doing much better today." What she really was saying was "Your mom is a sweet lady, I'm sorry she's dying, and I'm trying to make you and me feel better right at this moment by saying she's doing better." My mom wasn't doing better, but when a nurse tells you that she thinks your mom is doing better, if you don't speak their language, you don't understand that. You take the nurse at her word that your mom is doing better.
That's just one example among many that occurred over the eight days I spent in Medicaland. But I eventually got proficient at Medicalanguage. Towards the end I was able to communicate very effectively with the natives. I asked the right questions at the right times. I listened to my inner voice that would be saying, "I don't get that." I asked follow-up questions where I would rephrase what they were saying into common English. I got through it and learned a lot.
But my experience got me thinking about the language that I speak where I live (at least for eight hours a day, Monday through Friday). I live in Legalopia and speak Legalingo. This is the language of judges, lawyers, clerks and other court personnel. To us phrases like, "file a petition", "we don't grant adjournments to petitioners on the day of the first appearance, and "Has there been an adjudication of paternity?" are all phrases that roll off our tongues as easily as "Sure, I'll have another".
We have to remember that most of the people that need the services of the courts don't live in our world. They hear the words, they know that they're English words, but because they don't live in Legalopia they don't always understand the context. For those of you reading this that also don't live in Legalopia, a translation of "file a petition" is fill out a form to tell the court why you want what you want and why you should get it. "We don't grant adjournments to petitioners on the day of the first appearnce" means you should have called us earlier, besides you started this whole thing and if you don't show up, the judge is going to throw it out. Finally, "Has there been an adjudication of paternity?" means has anyone been named as the father. Isn't that simpler?
So my suggestion to those that speak Legalingo is to remember that we're the natives, the general public is visiting our land, and we need to be good hosts and speak as plainly as we can to them. Save the Legalingo for each other, and speak common English to our guests. If we did that, I believe there would be less confusion and stress for everyone.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Thank You For Being A Friend
Because it's summer and there's many social activities, I've been thinking a lot lately about friends and friendship. I've been thinking about why some people are our friends, how being friends mean different things to us at different points of our lives, and how to be a good friend to someone.
When I was a kid and teenager my friends were mostly just other kids and teenagers around the neighborhood. If you had to ride your bike too far to get together, it just wasn't worth it. Looking back on those friendships I realize I was kind of a jerk to some of my friends, especially my best friend. But kids and teenagers don't seem to have the ability yet to understand what it takes to be a good friend. I see it in my two teenagers all the time. They're very judgmental and don't cut anybody slack. I wince when I hear them talk about their friends sometimes. I want to scream at them, "Give them a break, they're only fifteen years old!!" Of course, I didn't cut anybody slack when I was a teenager. The downside to that behavior is that this pattern of mean-and-nice isn't tolerated forever. I've tried reconnecting many times over FB with my former best friend, but she never gives me anything more than a polite, curt response. Much to my regret, we're not going to be friends as adults.
When I got married and was a "couple" then of course you want other "couple" friends. When all four get along it's a lot of fun, but it usually seems like there's at least one person in the group that somebody else doesn't like. I've had girlfriends that I liked a lot, but then didn't like her significant other, although she liked my significant other and blah...blah...blah. You can see how this becomes more trouble than it's worth.
This couple friendship thing gets to be such a hassle that you're almost happy to have kids so you can segue into parenting friendship. I have to admit, I was terrible at this. I was kind of an unconventional mom. First of all, I worked full time while my husband worked part time and mostly took care of the kids so I wasn't a stay-at-home mom and didn't fit into that realm of friends. And at that stage of my life, although I had a job, I was much more interested in being a mom and the job was just for the paycheck so I didn't have "career" friends. Also, I never believed in shuttling kids to a bunch of activities, and my kids didn't want to do a bunch of activities either, so I didn't have any moms from scouting or baseball teams.
Reading this blog you might get the idea that I don't have many friends, but I actually do. I'm a big believer in friendship so I'm willing to be friends with just about anybody who wants to be friends with me. When I was about 34, two of my closest friends were an 18-year-old girl who I was in school with, and an 89-year-old woman who lived down the street. Today, one of my best friends is a 70-year-old man that I do a ton of outdoor activities with.
Following are some tips about being a good friend and cultivating friendship. Be a listener. People don't always want or need your advice, and don't make the conversation about you or your problem. Just listen. If someone is your friend, throw them a "Like" on some comment they made on FB. Send them a text once in awhile. Laugh at their jokes. Give them a compliment. Smile when you see them. Pay for something for them when you're out. Make plans with them.
I've also learned what doesn't make for successful friendships. Maybe I'm going back to when I was a kid, but it really helps if you live near your friends. It just makes it easier to get together if you don't have to drive for 30 minutes to get to their house. Also, I have something called the Friendship Attempt Standard. The FAS is simply that if I've attempted three times to get together with you, you've turned me down all three times, and made no attempt for us to get together yourself, we're not going to be friends. We can try again later, but not right now.
Finally, I want to introduce you to "friendship tiers". Friendship tiers are the level of friends that you are with someone, and what that level of friendship entitles you to in the friendship. For example, a Tier One Friend is like your best friend that you would do stuff with all the time if you could. You can ask a Tier One Friend to help you move or pick you up at the airport. A Tire Two Friend is someone that maybe is a former Tier One Friend that had a kid or married someone you don't like so you don't see them as often. You would no longer ask that person to do a big favor for you, but you may see them every couple of weeks for lunch, you're happy to see them, and you always wish you could see them more if it wasn't for that jerk of a husband they had.
A Tier Three Friend is someone who usually always stays a Tier Three Friend. They never seem to move up and down the tiers. They're like a cousin or friend of your Tier One Friend. You enjoy their company when you see them, you see them pretty regularly through your Tier One Friend, but you don't ever get together independently with them. A Tier Four Friend is a situational friend. They're maybe someone you went to college with who now lives in your neighborhood and your kids play together so you see them in that context. Or maybe they're someone you work with and occasionally go out to lunch with when you have a two-for-one coupon. Tier Four Friends can move up the tiers quickly, if conditions are right.
I want to wish you a very pleasant and enjoyable summer, and I hope you are enjoying your friends, no matter what tier they're in.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Resistance is Futile
I've had a number of jobs and careers and probably the best thing about having such varied experiences is that I've learned a lot about myself and how to function in a work environment happily, without driving my co-workers nuts. For example, I've learned that, while I really like change, most other people really don't, so I try not to push new things that affect others too hard. I've also learned that a lot of problems work themselves out, and just by waiting things out a bit, I can save myself energy.
Another thing I've learned and trained myself to do is to try really hard to say "Yes" to new things. Most people's instinct, when asked to do something new or additional, whether in our job or personal life, is to say no. Because it's something new and we may not have enough information we utter a knee jerk "No.", and then miss out on perhaps an opportunity to feel very good about ourselves, learn something interesting, raise other's opinions of us, or maybe even make some money.
Here's a few examples of what I mean about saying "Yes." My former boss recently asked me if I would like to do some post-production closed captioning. I'd done it in the past for her, and to be honest, it can be a lot of work. But then I thought about and realized, first, I would be helping her out, thus maintaining a personal and business relationship that's important to me. Secondly, it's a chance to make money right at a time when I have a son going to college. Third, closed captioning is difficult and it's a nice bit of experience to have on your resume. Finally, I'm pretty sure that my current job is safe, but I like to always have something on the back burner. Hey, you never know.
Also, recently Judge Jack asked me to do realtime for a hearing impaired person. I do realtime for myself, and for him when we're doing hearings. When this woman, who was also mute, came in to file a petition the office staff was going to try to communicate with her with some type of machine. The machine wouldn't work though, so the Judge came up with an elaborate way of recording her responses on the record using a series of yes/no questions and raising of hands. In the split second after the judge asked me to do this, I hesitated. My initial reaction was to say no. But then I resisted the urge to say "No" and said sure, I would do it. Everything worked out great. The woman got the legal help she needed, the judge was happy, I felt good about myself, and most of all I proved that humans, specifically court reporters, succeed where machines fail.
So my advice today is that Resistance is Futile. Learn to Say Yes!
Another thing I've learned and trained myself to do is to try really hard to say "Yes" to new things. Most people's instinct, when asked to do something new or additional, whether in our job or personal life, is to say no. Because it's something new and we may not have enough information we utter a knee jerk "No.", and then miss out on perhaps an opportunity to feel very good about ourselves, learn something interesting, raise other's opinions of us, or maybe even make some money.
Here's a few examples of what I mean about saying "Yes." My former boss recently asked me if I would like to do some post-production closed captioning. I'd done it in the past for her, and to be honest, it can be a lot of work. But then I thought about and realized, first, I would be helping her out, thus maintaining a personal and business relationship that's important to me. Secondly, it's a chance to make money right at a time when I have a son going to college. Third, closed captioning is difficult and it's a nice bit of experience to have on your resume. Finally, I'm pretty sure that my current job is safe, but I like to always have something on the back burner. Hey, you never know.
Also, recently Judge Jack asked me to do realtime for a hearing impaired person. I do realtime for myself, and for him when we're doing hearings. When this woman, who was also mute, came in to file a petition the office staff was going to try to communicate with her with some type of machine. The machine wouldn't work though, so the Judge came up with an elaborate way of recording her responses on the record using a series of yes/no questions and raising of hands. In the split second after the judge asked me to do this, I hesitated. My initial reaction was to say no. But then I resisted the urge to say "No" and said sure, I would do it. Everything worked out great. The woman got the legal help she needed, the judge was happy, I felt good about myself, and most of all I proved that humans, specifically court reporters, succeed where machines fail.
So my advice today is that Resistance is Futile. Learn to Say Yes!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Random Observations
Sitting where I sit in the courtroom gives me the opportunity to observe some things. Here are a few things that I've noticed. I would love for you to post your own observations.
1. Women under the age of 25 no longer wear stockings. Why is that? Most women's legs look terrible bare. They're misshapen and too white. Ladies, put on a pair of stockings! It's not really that much trouble and you'll look so much better. Control top pantyhose stay up nicely and tuck you in a little bit. I often see pasty white feet jammed into high heal shoes. That must hurt. It wouldn't hurt if you had a pair of stockings on to smooth things along. BTW, this is something I've noticed in both lawyers and their clients. Writing this reminds me of an dearly departed old dear friend of mine, Sandy Smith-Lipke, who used to say that she wished she had followed an older lady's advice of keep your face out of the sun and wear support stockings. I'm not even asking you younger ladies to go the support hose route, but for God's sake, please, just put on a pair of Hanes.
2. If you're coming into court to ask the judge to discontinue an order of protection against you, you probably shouldn't wear your "Scarface" t-shirt depicting a blood soaked Al Pacino brandishing two machine guns. How about wearing a shirt that says something like "My Ex is a Super Lady" or "Flower Power". At the very least wear something with the Muppets on it. But no, you're probably not going to convince the judge that you're not violent when you glorify the lifestyle of Tony Montana.
3. Lawyers, and even the judge, are very susceptible to a condition I call "Word Fever". Most contagious diseases are categorized as bacterial, fungal and protozoan. "Word Fever" is transmitted auditorially, that is, directly from ear to mouth. As soon as one lawyer uses a word that sounds smart, but is coincidentally difficult for me to write on my machine, every lawyer in the room, and the judge (he used to be a lawyer so he's not immune) will begin to sprinkle that word into their speech for at least the next ten days. Recently, I heard the word egregious so many times in two weeks, it was deplorable, grievous, heinous, intolerable, preposterous, even shocking. By the way, all those words are basically the same as egregious, and they're easier for me to write.
4. If you ask a lawyer how they did recently with a case, if they lost, they will never say "We lost." He/she will say something like well, we really got what we needed, or well, the most important part of the case hasn't been heard yet. If they win, they will tell you "I won." So if you don't hear a lawyer say "I won" right away, assume they lost.
5. When people come into the courtroom, only the parties involved and their counsel, if any, are supposed to sit in the tables facing the bench. Often, litigants will bring friends and relatives for support and encouragement. Sometimes though those non-parties really, really want to participate. A sure way to spot these people is if they first try to sit at one of the tables, then when told they can't they will sit as close as possible in the gallery to their friend or relative, and lean in as close as possible to them, even clutching onto the bannister that separates the gallery from the rest of the courtroom. When you see someone do that, you can be pretty sure they're going to blurt out something unhelpful during the proceedings and then I'm going to have to chase after them afterwards to get their name. By the way, these unidentified non-parties who like to speak out in the courtroom usually have funny accents or speech impediments, and they're also usually the fastest people to walk out of the courtroom.
6. People make things too complicated with names. In cases where everybody is supposedly related, kids, mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, aunts and uncles, everybody has a different last name. Sometimes even married people have different last names! We recently had a case in front of us where everybody had the same last name, and that was unheard of. Sad.
1. Women under the age of 25 no longer wear stockings. Why is that? Most women's legs look terrible bare. They're misshapen and too white. Ladies, put on a pair of stockings! It's not really that much trouble and you'll look so much better. Control top pantyhose stay up nicely and tuck you in a little bit. I often see pasty white feet jammed into high heal shoes. That must hurt. It wouldn't hurt if you had a pair of stockings on to smooth things along. BTW, this is something I've noticed in both lawyers and their clients. Writing this reminds me of an dearly departed old dear friend of mine, Sandy Smith-Lipke, who used to say that she wished she had followed an older lady's advice of keep your face out of the sun and wear support stockings. I'm not even asking you younger ladies to go the support hose route, but for God's sake, please, just put on a pair of Hanes.
2. If you're coming into court to ask the judge to discontinue an order of protection against you, you probably shouldn't wear your "Scarface" t-shirt depicting a blood soaked Al Pacino brandishing two machine guns. How about wearing a shirt that says something like "My Ex is a Super Lady" or "Flower Power". At the very least wear something with the Muppets on it. But no, you're probably not going to convince the judge that you're not violent when you glorify the lifestyle of Tony Montana.
3. Lawyers, and even the judge, are very susceptible to a condition I call "Word Fever". Most contagious diseases are categorized as bacterial, fungal and protozoan. "Word Fever" is transmitted auditorially, that is, directly from ear to mouth. As soon as one lawyer uses a word that sounds smart, but is coincidentally difficult for me to write on my machine, every lawyer in the room, and the judge (he used to be a lawyer so he's not immune) will begin to sprinkle that word into their speech for at least the next ten days. Recently, I heard the word egregious so many times in two weeks, it was deplorable, grievous, heinous, intolerable, preposterous, even shocking. By the way, all those words are basically the same as egregious, and they're easier for me to write.
4. If you ask a lawyer how they did recently with a case, if they lost, they will never say "We lost." He/she will say something like well, we really got what we needed, or well, the most important part of the case hasn't been heard yet. If they win, they will tell you "I won." So if you don't hear a lawyer say "I won" right away, assume they lost.
5. When people come into the courtroom, only the parties involved and their counsel, if any, are supposed to sit in the tables facing the bench. Often, litigants will bring friends and relatives for support and encouragement. Sometimes though those non-parties really, really want to participate. A sure way to spot these people is if they first try to sit at one of the tables, then when told they can't they will sit as close as possible in the gallery to their friend or relative, and lean in as close as possible to them, even clutching onto the bannister that separates the gallery from the rest of the courtroom. When you see someone do that, you can be pretty sure they're going to blurt out something unhelpful during the proceedings and then I'm going to have to chase after them afterwards to get their name. By the way, these unidentified non-parties who like to speak out in the courtroom usually have funny accents or speech impediments, and they're also usually the fastest people to walk out of the courtroom.
6. People make things too complicated with names. In cases where everybody is supposedly related, kids, mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, aunts and uncles, everybody has a different last name. Sometimes even married people have different last names! We recently had a case in front of us where everybody had the same last name, and that was unheard of. Sad.
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