Why do I Even Try…
We'll start out with something pretty. I planted these beauties everywhere, and will curse myself for bad placement next year. Yeah, they're gorgeous. But they've a knack for taking over. By next spring, I'll see thick carpets of them wherever I tucked single plants. Well, they're still pretty.
I was weeding the bridge gardens on Sunday. It was blistering hot, but nice to work in the cool damp shade. Something bit me just below the eye brow. Well, I'll just finish up here then make dinner. As I ate later, I noticed my eye felt strange. It was a bit itchy, but felt really strange.
A look in the mirror showed the eyelid had swollen my eye almost shut! This on Sunday night, and a holiday Monday. Figures. I stuffed myself with copious doses of Benadryl and put ice on it.
Monday morning, the eye was worse. It was hot to touch and looking bruisy. I rang the doctor's famous answering service, miraculously remembering which option to press for a real human voice. Within five minutes the on call doctor rang back, instructing me to trek to Urgent Care for a look.
Now, driving with one eye nearly sealed from swelling proved interesting. I kept tilting my head back in effort to use the eye, which had me looking at the world through the reading part of my bifocals. Everything was blurred and the ride was not pleasant. And when I reached Urgent Care, it was as packed as any hospital emergency department on a Saturday night. Squalling sick children, snuffling and sneezing and coughing and whining their discomfort. It was easy to see they were terrified too. A couple of injured ankles limped in, and several unidentifiable illnesses. I had a sock with me so knitted quietly until called into the examining room, which surprisingly was within an hour of my arrival. I waited there an additional ten minutes. Who knew so many people got injured and sick on holidays? I felt badly for everyone, and, despite my terrifying appearance, felt I was intruding on real emergencies.
I walked out with a Px for antibiotics and instructions to keep up the cold compresses and Benadryl. Also was told the eye would be swollen for several days yet. Great.
Now it's Thursday and the eye is beginning to look normal. Whew!
I was starting to feel like I could get everything done and caught up.
I did a deal of stock imaging and tidied up the business web-site. I researched and started writing descriptions.
Wandered from the office to the house in search of coffee. Spotted a packet sat on the window-sill. I went out to fetch it in. Addressed to my business, from my RA. Okay, I get a few of these each year, maybe some changes in regulations or whatever. No biggie, right?
Wrong.
Dead wrong.
In that packet was a Process of Service! I'm being sued! God help me, what have I done?
I read through the documents, soon realising that the defendant name was not mine. Someone, somewhere, had pulled my business name out of the air and decided that I was guilty of some other fool's crime.
Heart pounding, I rang the plaintiff's attorney, who was pleasant enough but noncommital. He said he'd "look into it". Right.
I tried to ring the State Dept, Division of Corporations. Lots of choices on their automated answering service. I chose the one for Customer Service. The recorded message? "We're sorry, the office is closed. Regular office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday". What? This was Wednesday, before the lunch hour, well within office hours!!! I tried other options, and just got a round robin of automated messages. Guess what? You can't call the Division of Corporations to get anything done.
I next called the RA. Of course, they're clueless. Is it that no one knows what happened or is no one admitting what they screwed up?
RA recommended calling FedEx to refuse shipment. Gosh, the nimwits left the thing here without signature. I rang anyway and they told me just seal it back up, noted-Return Item Refused. I could drop it off or have them pick it up.
Before running out to drop it off, I rang my attorney. I'd written notes from all the telephone calls and started a letter showing all the errors that someone had made in deciding that I was this other person and his business that operates over 400 miles away.
Attorney asked me to fax over everything. He then informed me that I can't write a letter explaining that someone's head is up their-oh, I shouldn't talk like that. The letter has to be done by a lawyer in a specified format!
Great. Now I have attorney fees to pay, I may still have to go to NYC to prove that I am not nor ever have been this other business or person, and that I do not, never have, nor would ever have reason to do business with the plaintiff's company.
And they may just decide to put a judgment against my company, which totally screws me forever. And there is no recourse. There is no one to sue for loss of time, loss of business due to fighting someone else's battle, and the legal fees I now face.
Nice, isn't it?
