Pulling Rank

I don’t usually “pull rank” at court. But today I did. The line was out the door and wrapped around the outside of the parking lot when I got to court this morning. So I took advantage of the sign on the wall that said “Attorneys may proceed to the front of the weapons screening line upon showing their bar cards.”

Normally, my attitude is that I’m no better than any of the other people with business at court and I should stand in line with the rest of them. And when the line takes ten minutes or so, I do. When I have a chance of being seen by a juror, I do.

Today, though, I was suffering the echoes of a migraine that I had medicated away with near-constant aspirin use — one full gram every six hours — and sheer willpower to make it through a day. And I was in no mood to wait an hour to verify that I didn’t have any weapons. So I cut in line, flashed my bar card, and proved that I had no weapons. The deputies took one look at me, determined I was harmless, and let me through despite my tie-tack that set off the metal detector.

Migraines can really knock someone down and out. Yesterday, I couldn’t take time out to let it hit me, and so I did what I could to suppress it. When I get the migraine, the headache pain can be quite intense. It localizes in the frontal lobes of my head and sinuses. Even under a lot of aspirin, it still hurt to lean forward, bend over, or turn my head suddenly. I fatigue easily, and I feel the pain circling around my skull like a circlet. If I let it go, I get nauseous, dizzy, and I lose the ability to tolerate bright lights and loud noises. When the migraine hits, it echoes for days afterwards. I’ve found with huge doses of aspirin, I can dull the pain enough to function — if I catch it early enough.

So when I had the echoes going this morning, that was it. I put aside my small-“d” democratic tendency, pulled rank, got into the courthouse, and found myself a quiet part of the hallway to sit and read my papers. Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait too long before my case was called and I could go back to my relatively quiet office. Tonight, I’m going to try and get a nice full night of sleep so that I can recuperate some more and hopefully deal with my full court calendar tomorrow morning.

…And hopefully avoid making more scatalogical jokes about Congress.