Here is a brief outline of some ridiculous things that have happened so far in Nawleans:
Midway to Mardi Gras- my first second-line ever. It was basically just a parade through the streets in our neighborhood, where we all got dressed up in ridiculous costumes and danced around. I made a dress out of a pillowcase. It was wonderful.
Chick-Fil-A Bowl- I went up to Atlanta over Labor Day Weekend to stay with the FOSAA boys. It was just like the old days- maybe even TOO much like the old days. We had a blast though, and the Atlanta JV's met us out on Sunday night, which was a lot of fun. Molly, Jordan, Bernadette, Jayne, Mackenzie, and Sarah all came to have a drink with us and chat. It seems like they're enjoying their time in ATL. If the city weren't so spread out it would probably be better for them, but they seem to be doing pretty well despite the sprawl. The game was epic. I was so giddy during the fourth quarter, I felt like a child. And pre-game tailgating with Michael, Britt, Dori, Hannah, Meagan, Lauren, Ryan, Kelly, and everyone else was exactly what I needed on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
Office League Softball- I joined the team and we had our first game on Wednesday. We were quite bad, which is nice because I fit right in. Definitely room for improvement though- we're in training mode right now. Definitely. Just like all things we do at the office, we're understaffed and underresourced for our games. The other team had batting gloves. BATTING GLOVES. That's all you really need to know to understand the situation. It was super fun though, and most of the people on the team were very inviting to me, which is always appreciated. That's also where the other attorney, Carlotta, gave me/PTS props.
Who Dat Nation- my first experience in NOLA during a Saints' game. It was out of control- schools got out early and courts closed for the opening game. I mean...the game started at 7:30 and schools were letting out at 2. Sections of court closed for the afternoon. There are people in jail in New Orleans right now that have to wait extra days, weeks, or even months for their court date because it had to be rescheduled. That was pretty appalling. On the plus side, most of the housemates went out to a sports bar for the game and it was incredibly fun. Standing room only in a massive bar, and everyone was really excited. I ran into Donna, one of the public defenders at my office, randomly at the bar. It's true what they say about it being a small city. She's one of the 2 attorneys who has actually said to me, in a social setting outside of work, how appreciative she is of the work that I do at pretrial. It's really nice to get that kind of validation, but that's really just the culture of the office. When someone wins a case, another attorney in the office emails the entire staff listserv about it and your inbox is useless for the afternoon because it's just filled with congratulatory "reply all's" to them.
Police Interactions- I got pulled over by a cop yesterday while walking down a sidewalk, going home from work. The cop questioned me a little bit, and then once I finally "proved" I was coming home from work at OPD by showing him my ID badge, he told me I matched the description of someone they were looking for who was walking around and posing as an AT&T repairman to get into people's houses. I really squandered my golden opportunity to test out one of my favorite cop ploys: usually cops write in the police reports that someone they questioned was touching their pocket repeatedly, which they say gives them reasonable suspicion to search them for drugs. I kept meaning to pat my pockets repeatedly if I ever ran into a cop to see if they'd do it to a well-dressed white guy, but I completely forgot to do it in the heat of the moment. Even so, it's pretty clear that I got out of that incident easily. What if I didn't have a job I was coming from, or a way to prove it? Or even if I did...what if they didn't believe me and took me down to booking? And then if they haven't found the person yet, or the description includes something like "blue jeans and white t-shirt with dreadlocks" and you match it, you get booked. That's all there is to it. And then you spend 2 months in jail waiting to even get a chance to plead not guilty. And then wait another month or more to start trying to prove that it wasn't, in fact, you. That happens to a lot of people; just not to people who look like me.
Work Issues Generally- I had my first of a number of things. I had my first seriously mentally ill clients, I've done my first photo motions with the court, I've gotten my first medical release waivers together, I've gotten my first truly appreciative clients and families, as well as my first truly hostile ones. I've cost a guy about an extra month in prison. I've saved a guy months, too. In case you were wondering, it doesn't feel like it balances out. I'm finally getting the hang of innovating office processes and I'm starting to get things done more efficiently. I'm starting to codify policies that we're coming up with so that we don't have as much brain drain every time someone leaves or moves, which is especially important when we have so many volunteers coming in and out that need to be trained or retrained. I absolutely love my work. It's sort of a nice problem to have that I can look at the clock some days and have accidentally worked 11 hours, and then knowing that I have to go home to see my community even though I'd really like to just finish this one thing...plus this one other thing...and then this thing. It never ends.
Gotta run to catch a bus now for the 10-year anniversary of Cafe Reconcile- we're volunteering for it at the Ritz. Hillary's placement is there so we've been getting the low-down on everything. Can't wait!
"Man, that ain't even how it happened!" - 1/3 of my clients
