Much Ado about NOTHING

Legalities

I spent some time at my lawyer's office today, so I could sign my "Last Will and Testament" -- yes, the document really is called that. Just like on TV and in the movies, it stated, among many other things, that I was of "sound mind", which is mostly true, I guess. Anyway, I signed, and even learned a new word: stirpes, which has to do with the method of dividing an estate if the beneficiary of the will dies... uhh, you don't want to know.

The semiotics of the legal office's conference room were interesting. I had plenty of time to study them while waiting for the official document to be presented and witnessed. On one wall was a painting of a group of posh-looking people in riding gear and on horseback, during a fox hunt. On the opposite wall was a black-and-white photograph of a group of construction workers eating lunch while seated on a girder high above Manhattan. I suppose the message was that the lawyers serve both upper-crust and working-stiff clients in need of legal representation. I must be somewhere in between or outside of those classes, because I didn't identify with either portrait.

On top of an imposing bookcase full of legal tomes there was also a small photo of a kids' baseball team, apparently one the office sponsors. I felt more like one of them: smiling on the outside, but worried about strike three.