Today a friend's comment on Facebook got me thinking about a meeting we had a few years ago....let me set it up for you.
In 2003 my husband and I bought our first house and moved out of our tiny apartment into this house. My friend was moving into the house with us and helped us move out of our apartment since we were suppose to be into the house by Friday and yet closing took longer than expected and we weren't able to move out till Monday and so I had to go to work before the office opened and was unable to participate in the sign out process, so my friend was there to help my husband and was our witness to what went on, had it not been for her, I wouldn't have really known what happened, but she backed my husband's story so I knew they were telling the truth (or really good at lying).
Well, after a few months of living in this house we got a bill from the apartments, I went and talked to them and in short, we ended up having to meet with someone at a courthouse. Now, we were suppose to pay a break lease fee, but when my husband offered to pay it they said we didn't need to pay it so we didn't, the fee was $600, they billed us for like $1,100 and said we had to pay that amount cause we never paid the break lease fee, we were only willing to pay the break lease fee.
So, the court date, or at least what the paperwork called the court date, came and we all met at the court house. My friend and I were both pregnant, due about 2 weeks apart, we both had little tummies and we had both talked about this moment for a long time before showing up to go in front of a judge--turns out we weren't to go in front of a judge, we were meeting for mediation (a slight little oversight they didn't make in the paperwork.) We were prepared to meet in front of a judge and so as their 'mediator'/attorney tried to pressure us to take his 'bargain' that he had to offer us, we refused. He insisted that we either take the 'bargain' or he would be forced to take this matter infront of a judge--we told him to bring it and that we were happy to explain to a judge what our side of the story was.
Now, we sat in that tiny cramped room for well over 30 minutes. The room was probably 6 ft by 6ft and round table in it barely fit, we sat next to the door because our little bellies prevented us from squeezing around the table. John was there, and even said a few things when we first started but after about 5 or 10 minutes he ended up sitting in a corner just watching and waiting.
I think my favorite part of this meeting was when the attorney started flicking a rubber-band he had on his wrist. Now, I am not a retard, at the moment he started doing this I knew we had him. Flicking a rubber band on your wrist was something I knew people did when they were stressed, and by him doing it I knew he was stressing, and being a little sister and having 7 siblings I knew once you could get someone to show signs of stress meant you only had to push a little further before they broke.
Now, my friend and me are reasonable people, but we will not be bullied and we will not step down when we know we are right, and I think had it come to it we would have fought the mob that day. The tension was so strong in that room you could have cut it with a knife. I am rather surprised neither of us went into labor because our blood pressures were surely through the roof, but we stayed calm and we stood our ground (mainly cause the room was so small and our tummies so big we could move had we wanted to.)
WE continued to state the same thing, and he continued to flick his rubber-band, then he left the room, he returned, offered us even more money off, we re-stated our offer, he left the room, returned with even more money off, flicking his rubber band as we re-stated our offer, he left the room, this went on for probably another 30 minutes, and when he returned with another offer and stated if we didn't accept that we would have to go to court and then would have to pay court costs we informed him we would only have to pay court costs if we lost and we didn't intend to lose, he flicked the rubber band faster and faster and left again and returned accepting our terms....
And that was why I should have been a lawyer instead of a CNA, cause at least I would have gotten paid a lot more for cleaning up other peoples crap....
Did you ever win a battle that seemed to be a defining moment in your life? This surely seemed to be one for me, too bad I have yet to seek my legal degree, but one day I will, but those plans are a different story for a different day...
Anyhow, it is funny how I was able to stand my ground with that attorney and yet it is this little man who seems to have me eating out of his hands--I wonder where he gets it from? Do you think he was taking notes that day?
by the way, his 5th birthday is almost here (DEC 15), hard to believe it has been 5 yrs.
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