Monday, May 30, 2005

I must have kicked a lot of kittens in my last life

Continuing the theme of how goddamn lucky I am, I spent an hour and half today, wading knee deep in dates and facts and times, and fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck in a lawyers' office.

A bit of history: A year or so ago, I spent a short time volunteering (volunteering, take note, this is an important detail) at Stef's soccer club. Through him, I know some of the other guys, and through them, I knew they wanted someone to do basic strapping, taping and minor first aid. I know how to tape, and as I was studying both to be a personal trainer and a Bowen therapist, this was a good way to gain a bit of confidence, get my Bowen hours up, and ultimately gain some experience, so I put my hand up to do their taping, if I could use their players for my Bowen.

You'd think I was applying for a paid job as Master of the Universe, rather than for a volunteer position with an amateur league soccer club, but they took me on and, theoretically at least, everyone was happy.

Except not everyone was.

Havng heard I got the job, Stef totally lost his shit on me. The amusing thing is that I stuck at it and went through the ridiculous interview process, because he'd told me I wasn't allowed to do it (red flag + bull, anyone?), or something equally as juvenile. Obviously, given that directive, I made sure I got the damn job. Ultimately, the experience blew, as several of the bumfucking dimwits with no independent thought processes took Stef's 'side', which resulted in an animosity so tangible, you could spread it on bread and eat it for dinner with gravy - and that was before the shit hit the fan.

In all honesty, while the blowing was of monumental proportions, a lot of good came from my time there. Going through the rigmarole with that bunch of circus freaks made me realise I really am quite gutsy, so I used their club as a springboard for my next, and went to a women's football club to offer my services. They welcomed me aboard, and that position led to work as a volunteer trainer and Bowen practitioner with a Rugby club, and that gave me the confidence to re-enter the paid workforce, and into my chosen career.

But I digress...

Long story short: One night at soccer, dude approached me complaining of a pulled hamstring. I offered him Bowen, he was all 'Yay!', and everythng was dandy until he asked for an ice pack. I gave it to him, and homeboy sat on the damn thing for at least an hour, gave himself frostbite, and now he's suing.

The club's insurance covers their butts, and will pay out once they've gone through all the bullshit one goes through when one is sued. Insurance companies don't just hand over money for no reason though, not when they can find someone outside the terms of the policy, or who acted negligently, thus negating their contract with the insurance company. While I'm not actually liable, and nor did I act negligently or outside my duty of care, the insurance company will likely see things differently. If they do, they'll instruct the same lawyers I met with today to sue me to recover their loss, and then I'll need to prove legally that I wasn't negligent.

The lawyers today advised me there was a good chance I'll be sued. They also advised me to contact my insurance company* so they can pay back the more than a quarter of a million homeboy is asking for in damages, on my behalf.



*yeah, like I keep one of those on the top shelf for such an occasion.




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