Two Things that are Stupid

The first one is a comment that an attorney made in court yesterday. I was already kind of cranky, so when he said this, I almost stood up and shouted, "Really?!" Ok, not really, but in my head I totally did. A woman was being sentenced for unemployment fraud because she got unemployment benefits when she was actually working. Whoops. Turns out you're not supposed to do that. Anyway, her attorney was telling the judge why he shouldn't put her in jail for 30 days. He included commendable things she was doing, like working two jobs and going to school full-time. And then he told the judge that, on her own, the defendant is seeing a counselor at UVU "to figure out why this happened."

Keep in mind that a few years ago she pled guilty to forgery and exploitation of an elder adult. Both crimes of deception, the same as unemployment fraud. But in case you are wondering, it isn't her fault. Nope, actually we need to do a little investigating to figure out whose fault it is that she keeps making really crappy choices. Maybe going to a counselor will help her to externalize the blame so that it's someone else's fault. I know, a little bit of a rant, but I get really sick of people blaming their problems on other people.

Number two (on my list of two stupid things, I mean, not the other one) is the movie Flash of Genius. If you haven't seen it and you want to, stop reading now because I'm going to completely ruin it for you. Or keep reading and just don't watch the movie. It's your choice. Let me just say, for starters, that I didn't really want to watch the movie in the first place. I thought it would be one of those movies that is really hard to watch because everything sucks for the main character for the whole movie and then the last 2 minutes is great (think Pursuit of Happyness style).

As it turns out, I was only partially right. It was really hard to watch because everything sucked for him the entire time. In case you haven't ever heard about it, it's about the guy who invented the intermittent windshield wiper and then Ford stole his idea. So that's probably about halfway through the movie when he realizes that they stole his invention. The rest of the movie is him going nuts because he can't figure out how to vindicate himself as an inventor. He has a beautiful wife who loves him and six kids, but because he is obsessed with letting the whole world know that Ford stole his invention, he alienates them and everyone else in his life. He has an attorney at first, and Ford offers him a deal for $250k, which he refuses because of the principle. When he doesn't take it, his attorney says he is out. Then his wife leaves. And keep in mind that she isn't just being lame. She hangs around for 4 or 5 years helping him with the invention and then trying to sue Ford, but then leaves with the six kids when he doesn't take the deal and it's clear that he won't ever let it go.

In the end, he litigates the case in patent court on his own, and he wins a $10 million dollar judgment plus a finding that they infringed his patent. So it's a happy ending. Except that he's already messed up his marriage and the lives of his children. So then he has ten million and the glory of having his 10 seconds of fame as the guy who created the intermittent windshield wiper, but his wife is gone. And the movie implies that his persistence to the point of obsession, paranoia and complete and total selfishness is somehow heroic. I know it's supposed to be the inspiring true story of the guy who went up against the big corporation and won--which, I admire, sure--but the whole time during the movie, he is always focused on himself and what he needs. And I guess he got what he wanted most, which was the recognition of the world and some money. But that seems like a pretty lame replacement for a good marriage and a happy family. Basically, I didn't like it and I wanted you to know.

In other, less stupid news, I've started reading again. For pleasure, I mean. I have always loved reading, but I could never read during law school because I always felt guilty. It could have had something to do with the fact that I didn't keep up with my reading for school, so I felt like if I was going to read at all, it should have been my homework. But now that I don't have homework and I do plenty of legal reading at work, I have time to read real books without feeling guilty. I'm almost done with Crime and Punishment, and we just finished reading Brave New World for our book club at work. So if you've read any really great books lately, let me know. I already have a pretty big list, but I like to hear what other people think is good.