Goody Goody Goes to Court

Abstract – A relatively young professor finds herself in civil court. Due to circumstances, completely within her control, the young professor wrestles with the action that summoned her into a world she would’ve preferred to have participated in, but only on the stage.

Many of you (mother & family excluded) know I was being sued. Let’s break down the story.

Student (will call him T) who I have known for 4-plus years finds himself hitting rock bottom. Laid off from work (not fired), unable to pay for school, his car hits an unmarked city construction site. The oil pan will need to be replaced. I don’t even know what that is, and all I know is that it’s pricey. T does not have a credit card, nor good credit, nor a parent, a relative, a relative of a relative who could assist him. T is attempting to get the funds from the city to pay for car as it is their fault. (They of course say it’s the contractor fault, the contractor the city)
The impending result- Bank of Decky.

Had this incident above occurred about a week or so earlier I would’ve sent them to my mechanic. Many of you have had the pleasure of meeting and kibitzing with my mechanics. You also may know that I’m known among them, as Catgirl. After ‘saving/taking/helping/feeding/fostering tons and tons of cats kitty corner to my mechanics, we became great friends. They, too are lovers of animals. They have or had a host of ferrets, and a duck couple that returned every spring. Humanists.

The week before the student and oil pan incident, another student, a single mother could not afford to have her car (power steering) fixed. Like many students and friends’ prior, I sent her to my mechanic. In sending this student, I had a 'cultural-awareness' lapse, and thus caused her great discomfort.

Unfortunately, my beloved mechanics, the ones who captured a live crow in my house, helped me get a 40 ft. ladder so I could rescue Uno (my cat) from a tree after 17 hours, who bought my car so I could lease a better one, they (my mechanics) do not appear to like people whose melanin matches the color of night. My mechanic said to me “We don’t need people like that here. Jessica”. It seems that Hate is not a friend to informalities.. as Catgirl became Jessica, and Jessica remembered where she lived. Mid-America, 48197 or 98.

The mechanic, where the student above and T ended up were friends of another student, and thus I thought it was safe. The car fixed, sat there for weeks as T tried to negotiate with the city. I called the mechanic and asked him to make a deal. Why did I not empower T to do this? This is where this gets tricky. The following are several reasons/rationales/excuses for my actions:

• Knowing how the last student of color was treated by a mechanic I was nervous and felt I could advocate better for him
• I’m an enabler
• I’m more of a yes or sure woman vs. a no woman.
• It was Xmas
• I wanted to see if my credit limit could increase; I wanted air miles
• How could I not? I am beyond privileged and lucky and have friends and relatives and relatives of relatives who could make sure my oil pan was fixed so I could be in home in time, for X-mas.

The deal. Pay 1/2 with a credit card and then post-date a check for January 31st for the rest. My thought on this: T would get a job, pay it off and/or he would reconcile with the city.

January comes. T had no job and had not reconciled with the city. I call the mechanic, they inform me that they cannot find my check, I call again .. it’s now February.. they cannot find it. I cancel it and do not write them another one. At this time, T has a job ironically at the City, and will hopefully be able to pay off this debt. And no, I haven’t seen a dime.

In March the mechanic find the check and process it. It’s returned, and they call me. I call T, and inform him .. it’s his car he need to take care of it. He writes them a bad check. They get mad and sue.. me. Not him.. mind you. .me.

First thing, after being summoned – I call T, and yell like I have never yelled before .. words like integrity.. disappointment, and statistically proven statements like “ there is a reason Black males have the lowest college retention rate. You can’t balance day and night let alone your check book. You are a walking statistic. Get your shit together”, or something like that. It was drama .. simulcast.. over and over and over again. When does a person become the result of their own history, their own trials and not result of the history they inherited? This is the conundrum. The sadness. Back to court .

Mediation, early June, 9am – Noon. A mess! Should not have worn the black halter, I know this now. Should not have brought the book, Cultivating Humanity by Nussman to peruse and highlight, know this now. Did contact a lawyer, who is actually an Ann Arbor City Council man and the Deputy mayor.. homey don’t play.. who basically said, “You cannot be sued for somebody’s else’s debt.” (this should be of great relief to my mother in regards to myself). Though there is nothing legally binding me to the car, to the work on the car-the mechanic refused to dismiss the charges and now were off to court and the magistrate- date to be set later

Court date- July 20th – 9am. Foremost, I received nothing .. NOTHING in the mail telling me of the court date. I had to call a friend, who works for the Clerk’s office and then I had to call the court, which informed me they had sent me out a letter. I asked them to resend. NOTHING. I arrived, wearing a flower-type cotton skirt, my Tommy H dark brown sandal/shoes and a brown shirt. My hair was pulled back. Though encouraged to wear black or navy blue (in the summer?!)
I declined. However, I did get a pedicure the day before, in case things went South. I brought no book, just some grading.

While waiting I met Henrietta, who I envisioned would be good to have on my side if ever there were cell territory issues. She wanted to talk, to unload and did… briefly. She told me she shouldn’t even be here, just wanted to keep her self out of jail (in civil court?!) something about her moving to Tennessee and then being here but not having Michigan registration and her friend who was smoking mar-I-juan-a (as if it was some unknown substance) in her car.. not her though. She doesn’t do drugs, but when the got pulled over .. it was her not her friend that got in trouble ..she’s here because she missed an earlier court date because she was at another court dealing with something else.

I went into court and following Henrietta’s plea for leniency she was granted another trial. They called my name and then the company suing me. I said my name, and then they asked for the company; the company never showed case dismissed without prejudice (their words).

Like the prior weight loss-by-default plans (the food poisoning, identity theft, house purchase, dog mauling) this court event served me well. I once again fit into my summer wear, and all is just in the world.