Waffles and Justice

I am a simple man. One of my simple pleasures in life is to occasionally go to Central Perk in Cedarhurst and order well-done waffles and a cup of cappucino for breakfast. Unfortunately, I rarely get to do this because work gets in the way during the week and biking gets in the way on Sundays.

Thanks to the slow movement of the wheels of justice, however, I got to enjoy my simple pleasure not once, but twice.

I was called to testify in a trial that is a wonderful example of what's wrong with the American system of justice. Had English rules applied (loser pays costs of winning counsel), this case would never have been brought. But I digress.

I was scheduled to be the first witness and was told to appear at 9:30 on Tuesday morning. So, after shul I had time to get to CP and get my beloved breakfast. I then spent the entire morning in court watching lawyers do essentially nothing. There was a courthouse but no judge and no jurors. I had important meetings scheduled for the afternoon but it soon became apparent that I was not going to make it. Suddenly, at around noon, someone called the courtroom. One of the jurors had bugged out. Because the case would be a long one, the judge (who apparently did exist but whom I never saw) ordered the lawyers to find a couple of more jurors. End of my day. I got on the next train and made my meetings.

The bad news: I had to be in court this morning at 10 a.m.. The good news: Waffles and cappucino again.

In any event, I did my testimony thing, it got very testy, the people who called me probably wish that they hadn't (my momma didn't raise no fool) and I'm preparing for a conference call in 15 minutes.

All in all, waffles considered, it could have been worse.