Vunil:
basically allowed her to abdicate responsibility for the situation that she at least in part brought about. Especially when she let your father say, in effect, "if it's just what David thinks, then it doesn't count." At that point she should have really stepped up to the plate, and instead she ran away.
Vunil, great point!
Mudpuppy:
Just make sure you don't lose your own soul trying to hook the b*****ds with your horn of justice.
Seriously seconded.
David,
It seems to me that by going to small claims court, you are setting out hoping for a victory in another losing battle. If you wish to take up an issue with your T, small claims court is not the correct avenue, but some kind of T board is. Once you write her this letter about refund and small court blah, you damage your chances of going to a T board. Although I am not a lawyer, as I see it, legally speaking the issue is not that she did not deliver the services, she did -- she showed up for the sessions, and you voluntarily continued with them, up until two weeks ago you thought she was helping you -- but rather she engaged in malpractice. So it is not a refund that you are entitled to for non-deliverance of services, but rather punitive damages for malpractice. Who will decide that she engaged in malpractice? You’ll need an expert witness for that. You’ll need evidence other than “he said-she said.” For all you know, your parents may be called as factual witnesses from her side. I see your chances of being affirmed in the small claims court very slight, and decent with a malpractice board. I see that you probably have no what idea what going to small claims court entails for a case of this kind.
May not get it but it will be some fun trying.
You are demeaning and devaluing what happened to you, by making it some ploy for cheap fun. Why do you want to take her to small claims court? What is the probability that you could win? If the judge dismisses your case and says that there was no evidence of abuse, how would you feel? Would you sue the judge? If not, won’t your anger keep growing? I ask these questions not because I have a shred of sympathy for the idiot T, no, I want her to be accountable for what she did to you, or I have any problems with your anger. But I care about you and what you are doing to yourself. Don’t think that this advice is coming from a book either; I’ve learnt the hard way myself. Of course you should do it your way, and I have no problems with you expressing your anger; I only think that you are going to end up hurting yourself further if you are not careful about how you let the heat out. The only thing some of us may be trying to tell you is that sometimes what feels like “
our way” is not really our way; it is “
their way,” or rather the way we learnt to cope as best as we could with the twisted realities of our N families.
If it is “righteous affirmation” that you are looking for, as Will has beautifully put it, then you are not going to find it in small claims court. May be you should find the correct avenues for this affirmation; stop looking in places where you won’t get it.
What did the slave owner say to Maximus? That winning with the sword was not enuf; if you really want to win the prize, learn to play the crowds and win the public. Do you know what it takes to win the prize you want? Do you even know what the prize is?