Ethics and Rabbit Ears

Thursday night I found myself at the sight of my junior prom surrounded by 80 suited up lawyers and judges grazing at a buffet table under the guise of garnering continuing education credits. No, it wasn't another wild dream, I was a guest at the local Inns of Court meeting.

Inns of Court is basically a group of lawyers and judges who meet once a month and put on skits mocking unethical behavior among lawyers. Art does, after all, imitate life. Oh, and if you join the Inns of Court you get required education credits relating to ethics. I bet you didn't know they require lawyers to continue to take ethics courses throughout their careers. That's because so many lawyers are afflicted with ethics amnesia. Yes, it is amusing. Actually, the group seems like fun and is yet another way to "network" - something I am learning lawyers also must do, even though it's nowhere in the Cartel membership handbook.

Anyhow, B had been hounding me to attend for months and Survivor doesn't start until next Thursday, so I figured "what the heck?" I hoped it would shed some light into the elusive lives of America's most beloved professionals. After all, what do those rich lawyers do with their free time? More importantly, a certain judge that I have a crush on is in the group and I wanted to go harass him a bit. So I met B after work and we carpooled over.

On the drive to the meeting B and I were discussing the crush and made a bet. She bet that the crush would give me a hug when he saw me. I said no way. Her theory was that he likes me and he gives everyone a hug at the meetings so I would most certainly get one. I put my money on the fact that he likes me in the sixth-grade-playground-boy-girl kind of way so he wouldn't dare touch me. In fact, I went so far as to predict some sort of childlike behavior such as a punch in the arm or a wet willy (not that kind!). Hands were shaken and the bet was on.

Upon arrival I headed to the 'new-lawyers-sign-here' desk. I didn't notice the object of my affections but he saw me. Indeed, he approached and said hello. As we stood next to eachother in front of B chatting, I saw his hand come up as if to embrace me. I thought "Oh no! B was right and I am going to lose the bet!" Just as I was considering that a hug from a crush might be more of a win than a loss, I realized he was merely giving me some rabbit ears by placing his hand with two fingers extended behind my head - just like in sixth grade.

The incident reminded me how fun it is to have a crush, a nice, innocuous, never-going-to-go-anywhere-but-still-great-to-see-you-and-oh-here-are-some-rabbit-ears-ha-ha-aren't-we-silly kind of crush. Oh yeah, and B owes me dinner.