A SHORT LIST OF PIRATE THINGS

Written for GBE2 week #44




This is my short list of pirate facts and other things:

1.  Yes the flag in the picture is hanging outside my house on an unusually warm day in March in New England.

2.  Pirates are often shown with parrots because in the 1600's, 1700's etc., these were considered "exotic" and were therefore somewhat valuable.  Never accuse a pirate of not wanting to make a quick buck.

3.  In my pirate reading I have found that it was not really known for pirates to use "walking the plank" as a punishment.  More usual punishments for wayward pirates that upset their captains were the wonderful practice of leaving them on an uninhabited island to die or the warm thought of tying them to the mast to starve.

4.  This is for my fellow rum lovers.  Yes, Captain Morgan was a real pirate named Captain Henry Morgan, who was actually the British Governor of Jamaica for a time during the 1600's.  I prefer Gosling's rum, especially the Dark Rum which makes a great Dark and Stormy.

5.  A Dark and Stormy is the world's best drink mixing Dark Rum (preferably Goslings) with Ginger Beer (not ginger ale).  This drink came to popularity in Bermuda and I'm sure all good pirates drink it.

6.  Rhode Island was considered a great place for pirates in the 1600's and 1700's because of vagaries of its coastline with many safe inlets and the corruptibility of the government.  i.e. the term "Rogue's Island".  Some things never change.

All you readers join this blog for it's A-Z of Jimmy Buffett songs starting April 1, or I'll have to tie you to the mast.

PIRATES DON'T WORK OR VOLUNTEER!!!

Written for GBE2

 Well, this pirate has actually done both, work for pay and piles of volunteer work. As with many people, my first paying job was when I was 16 and I was a library messenger at the Providence Public Library downtown. Because I was working for a nonprofit they could pay under minimum wage at the time, lucky me. (So I was sort of volunteering). My paid jobs have gone from library messenger, secretary, medical transcriptionist, attorney, and now, sometimes I get paid for writing.

 However, some of my most interesting and fun work has been volunteer work. At 14, I was a candy striper (not the stripper you might expect from a pirate) at a local hospital. I worked in the pharmacy which was fun and made me want to be a pharmacist until I took chemistry and realized that wasn't going to happen. I came from a family that embraced volunteerism, my mother eventually becoming President of the Rhode Island YWCA. My parents took in refugees from Europe in the 1950s and did many other things pro bono, that's "attorneyspeak" for free. This stuck with me.

 While I always needed to have a paying job, I spent many interesting hours knitting hats and making meatballs for school bazaars; running fundraisers; and even was a Girl Scout Brownie leader for a year (pirates do not make good Brownie leaders!). In this period of my life with a newborn, a 5 year old and a husband overseas, I met many good friends through this "work".

 This blog is not about a pirate turned good person, (that never happened, still a pirate) but it is rather about the fact that some of the most fascinating work and people can be found in the volunteer sector. As an attorney, I did my pro bono through the bar association and elderly affairs being a guardian for people whose families were either living off them or disappeared. I enjoyed helping these folks through probate court. I also loved working with Lawyers in the Arts helping artists and creative folks with intellectual property issues. Once again I benefited the more than the clients from this work by meeting some great people and entering lives I would not have otherwise seen.

 Today, too crazy to be a lawyer any more and trying to make some money writing, i.e. retirement to some, I am back at the library. This time as a volunteer, shelving books and meeting people in our very diverse local branch. This is excellent exercise and a great way to find books you might not have thought to take out, but the pay is even lower the before, just plain 0, but the world opened by volunteering is "priceless". Or in pirate terms, that's something with ARRH  booty!

WHEN THE MONEY TREE IS CHOPPED DOWN: Thoughts from a bankruptcy attorney

I personally have never had a good sense of the value of money. My husband will strongly agree to that fact. However, in my years of practice in the area of Bankruptcy I came to see that people were defining themselves and their self worth by money or the lack thereof.

My bankruptcy clients were some of my favorite clients because they were the exact opposite of the people that the credit card companies and banks stated they were. In the over 100 bankrupticies that I represented clients in, I can count on one hand people that might have been "trying to get away without paying", trying to defraud the creditors in any way or being in contempt of the bankruptcy process.

My clients were good people that fell on hard times. They were people that had been out of work for various reasons and had still tried their best to keep up with payments. They were people who did not come out well after a divorce and were overwhelmed. They were people who were sick and had minimal health insurance, if any at all. These people tried everything before coming to see me. They would try to work out something with their creditors and were often rebuffed. They went to Consumer Credit Counseling (at that time owned by the major credit cards) and were given a plan that was impossible to implement if they wanted to eat or clothe their children. I can say that every one of them did not want to see me and file a bankruptcy.

What saddened me the most was how embarrassed these people were who, usually through no fault of their own, were having to take a step that they found distasteful and ugly. The bankruptcy statues were set up as a "fresh start" for people whose obligations were way beyond their ability to pay. I tried to make them see it this way, but so much of their self esteem was tied up in money and the ability to provide for their families that they usually could not. Yes, some were not the best money managers on the block and some shopped a bit, but I had few gamblers and most of the people I saw had sincerely tried in every way possible to make good on their debts.

The bankruptcy laws have since been "reformed" by the strong credit card lobby in congress making it even more difficult for people to get this fresh start.

I learned through this experience that your self esteem should never be tied up in money. We are all trying our best to get by and money should never ever define the person that you are. Throughout my years of practice I learned from my clients and I can only hope that they learned to be proud of themselves.

I know the quote below is more of an environmental statement, but it does sum up my thought:

Written for the GBE2 blogging project.