REALLY?!?! - The Brooksville 50 Yard Dash

One of my pet peeves is being late. I hate when I'm late, and I hate when other people are late. I always get everywhere incredibly early... almost annoyingly early. But if I'm running late, I start to panic; I sweat; and it totally stresses me out. Anyway, this morning, I was supposed to be covering deposition in a small town in the middle of nowhere. The directions told me it would take about an hour and ten minutes to get there. So, of course, hating to be late, I left my house two hours before the deposition was supposed to start. After an hour and half of driving, I was still in the middle of nowhere, and the directions were telling me that I still had another 15 miles to go.

"Oh, crap! I'm cutting it close."

9:30 am - The deposition was scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Nervous, I checked the deposition folder one more time to make sure I still had 30 minutes. And I continued my drive through the middle of nowhere.

9:45 am - Still no signs of life. "Where the hell am I? Am I going to the right place? Oh no! Maybe I have the address wrong!!!" So again, I nervously checked the deposition folder to confirm the address.

9:52 am - Finally, I see signs of life... the city limit sign! At this point, I was only about 2 miles from my destination. I knew I'd make it in time.

9:56 am - I'm still driving. The location should be on the left. But I don't see it. "Oh, God... I'm late. Hurry!" I can feel myself growing warm, and my body begins to shake. "Please don't start sweating!"

And just like that, I'm out of downtown. I know now that I'm lost... but of course, I didn't get the GPS. "Oh, crap!! I forgot a pen!" My mind wanders back to the deposition. I quickly pull over to the side of the road and turn around. Frantically, searching the internet on my phone, my hand, shaking so badly I can barely type in the address.

10:02 am - "There it is!!!" I finally make it to the correct address, but something isn't right. The building is advertising a computer store. I figure I'll try it anyway. I quickly run to the front door. I reach for the door. But it's locked. "Crap!!! Now what?!?! Oh, I'll try the back."

10:05 am - Not having a clue what to do next, I called my office hoping someone could help me. One of my assistants was able to track down the court reporting company on the internet, at which point we realized I was at the wrong address. They'd moved. And just last week. The good news? They only moved just down the street. Heels on, dressed in a full suit, and carrying a huge file in my arms, I began running down the street. Unfortunately, I only made it two block before I realized it was too far to walk/jog in heels. I turned around and headed back to the car.

10:12 am - I see the right building, and I pull into the parking lot! "Why is the parking lot empty? Maybe everyone else is late too!" I lie to myself. I'm shaking uncontrollably, but I don't have time to calm down. I quickly grab the file and run to the front door. "Shit!" It's locked. "Now, what?" I call my office again. They call the court reporter. No answer. They call again. No answer. And so I wait....

10:22 am - I call my office. "Any news?" Again, nothing. I'm sooooo late! I can think of nothing else to do, but laugh. I mean, really? Why do things like this always happen to me? I have nothing to do but sit in my car and wait.

10:29 am - I look up the court reporter's website on my phone, and there's a map. When I click on the map, it links to my phone's built in GPS. I'm standing at the exact location. But, the building's empty? And the parking lot's empty? WTH?

10:39 am - My office calls me. Plaintiff's counsel didn't send the Notice of Deposition to the Court Reporter's Office, so the Court Reporter had no idea there was a deposition scheduled. Really? I smile. "Well, at least it wasn't my fault!"

With nothing else to do, I sit in my car for a few minutes to decompress... and I laugh. I laugh at the situation. I laugh at myself. "Was I really frantically running down Main Street, wearing a full suit, and my heels, and carrying a huge file folder?!?! Yes. I'm embarrassing!"

And that's how I finished the Brooksville 50 Yard Dash...in a suit, in my heels, file in hand! Why do crazy things like this always happen to me?!?!?