Darlings And All
I’m a partner in a small New England area firm. I had court this morning with one of my clients who is a very sweet older lady, around 70 years old. We were helping her with an old judgment from her divorce. Long story short, her ex-husband failed to pay something, and we were helping her collect.
But the star of the show is something else entirely. The old lady has a habit of calling everyone “Darling.” E.g. “Do you need my bank statements, darling?” when calling the office. I don’t really care what she calls me, she pays and is mega sweet, so we brush it off.
But she is also a bit hard of hearing, which is how our case…got interesting. We had the final hearing today, and the judge was keeping things pretty casual and conversational.
He was asking the parties different questions to clarify things before closing the hearing. He asked my client something about her finances, and she didn’t hear him. Her words made my face turn red instantly. “I’m sorry, Darling, what was the question?” Oh my God. Help me.
There was a moment’s pause, and the judge burst out laughing. “I’m sorry, did you call me…Darling?” He leaned back in his chair, beet red, grinning. She also turned a shade of scarlet. “I…I did, Your Honor.” He laughed again, shook his head, and the rest of the hearing proceeded.
Upon closing the record, he mentioned that it was the first time he had ever been called “Darling” by anyone. I think we did well, though. Darlings and all. Story credit: Reddit / peeepablepeep