Random Acts of Kindness

Today I went to small claims court for the first time ever.  A client reversed payment on a check and we filed suit.

I didn't expect it to go well or be easy.  The client was problematic from the very first phone call she placed to me.

However, I had no idea how much of a hassle the whole thing would be. And how disheartening.

I have a contract for my services.  An attorney drew it up so it would be enforceable in a court of law.  The client signed it as did we.  We performed our services per the contract.  And yet, she refused to pay.

Instead of this being an open and shut case as I thought it would and should be, we were in court for over an hour being heard by the judge.

The worst part was that the client lied over and over again.  And I had no way to prove her wrong.  She lied about big things, small things, you name it.  She told the court that she spoke with us, when she got voicemail.  She told the court that we ran out the door, when indeed we spent a lot of time with her giving hugs and congratulating her on the day's work.

And so I come home tonight not with the sense of relief that I thought I'd have, but a sense of sadness.  I am having a hard time digesting that there are people out there who want to win, no matter what the cost.  They will lie and steal to get what they want.  I guess I've always believed that people are good and honest, when in fact that doesn't seem to the the case.  And the worst part is that the dishonestly is sometimes rewarded.

I am going to focus my next few days on finding the good in people and surrounding myself with positive influences.  I need to feel as if there is some good in human kind.

I'm going to make it a point to do some volunteer work this month.  I'm also going to try and practice random acts of kindness.  Yes we should all act like this every day, but we don't.  And now that I know a little bit more clearly exactly how much bad there is in the world, I need to do everything I can to be a little extra good :)