My Day in Court

It was the first time I had ever been to the Manitoba provincial court. We were supposed to be there for 9:15 to meet up with the rest of the class, but we also had to get through security. Not knowing what to expect I showed up a half an hour early at 8:45.

I guess I was expecting it to be just like the airport and I didn't want to miss my flight.

After getting through security I made a left and headed towards the spot where all of the court cases for the day had been posted. In vain I tried to make sense of them, or to find something useful, but I wasn't able to find anything.

I sat down and spotted my journalism instructor as he looked over the court schedule. As he did a woman came up to him and gave him a big hug. As I went over to say hello I overheard that she was there to testify.

Soon after our instructor took us on a brief tour of where some of the court rooms were, as well as the spot on the main floor where they post information about cases for the media.

At 9:30 we met with James Turner from the Winnipeg Free Press. He gave us the low down and some tips as to where we might be able to find a good story.

For lunch we walked to Portage Place. It was cold out and I didn't have a hat. I had been worried about getting in trouble in the court room after our instructor advised us not to wear one. Two people tried to wear hats in court rooms I was in today. They were both told to take them off.

Apparently Brendan was hoping this was going to happen. He was hoping I would get in trouble. It would have given him a great story to write about, he would say during the break.

The deadline for the story was 6 pm and as time got closer, the pressure seemed to get stronger and stronger.

Lately I've discovered that deadlines stress me out. I guess I'm going to have to find a healthy way to deal with them. (are deadlines important for journalists?)

After I don't know how many revisions, I was finally able to hand my story in. I guess that means I'm going to have to apologize for killing so many trees.

Sorry trees.

rymr