The big spoon problem
When I was in school, one of my law professors told us why he’ll never work in family law. He called it the big spoon problem.
His coworker was acting as a divorce lawyer for a couple, but the reality was that he was the husband’s attorney, so he asked my professor to stand in as an attorney for the wife to protect her interests.
Everything had been worked out and the settlement was ready to go, when the wife suddenly asked “Wait … what about the big wooden fork and spoon?”
See, the couple had one of those big fork and spoon sets you hang in your kitchen, and they hadn’t included who got it in the settlement agreement. They exploded at each other, each arguing heatedly why they should get the pair and both agreeing that they couldn’t be split up.
Eventually, they almost came to blows, my professors stepped in between and it got him punched in the face by the woman.
Settlement agreements broke down afterwards and it had to go to court. Obviously, the problems were more serious than who got the big wooden fork and spoon, but it’s amazing how a catalyst like that can set some people off.
| BforBandanna