Court was already in session when I arrived, but I got there as soon as I could, having had to put Kepler on the bus, and then discovering partway into the drive that my gas light was on! (Plan ahead, woman!)

In front of me sat a man with very long hair wearing holey jeans and a t-shirt sporting the following motto: “No Rules, No Masters.” This may be from the TV show Sons of Anarchy, but still seems like a glimpse into his psyche, and perhaps partly an indication of why he is in the courtroom today.

Then there was the woman in front of the judge who professed to be too busy to complete her community service because her job requires 12-hour shifts, 7 days a week, but who only brought $50 to pay toward her fines and costs. The judge didn’t buy it. Even if she thought she could only afford to bring him $50, that’s not enough when you are presumably raking in the dough.

I saw a young man who was clean cut, and who was wearing a dress shirt, dress pants, and dress shoes. Maybe he is just as much a mess as the ones who come in with pants that barely cover their butts, but he made a different impression because of the clothes he wore.

I feel very sure that many of the people who come into the courtroom in ratty clothes wear what they have, and probably don’t even think there is any reason to do anything different. But hello, mr. overweight man, in the navy sweats that showed me half your naked butt when you got up, what would it be like if you took pride in your appearance? Or even understood that that is possible?

I felt sick when I left this morning. The person for whom I was there, obviously, got through his appearance, although not without a few bumps. The court in that county wants to get its fines and costs, and it wants you to do what you say you are going to do.

My simpleology daily reminder today had a mantra from Og Mandino today.

“I will act now.”

And all I can do is act now on my own challenges and issues. Yeah, it’s stressful! But all I have to do is the next step. And I will act now.