"Tall coffee, decaf please" Ordering decaf coffee at 8am is bound to raise questions. My friend raised his eyebrows and said "what's up with that?". The simple answer is PVCs. Premature ventricular contractions. Apparently I have been having too many lately. The standard line from the cardiologist is that PVCs are normal and as we get older we get more of them. I have been having more than my share. "Normal" PVCs cause a fluttering in the chest. Something akin to butterflies. You feel like your heart is flip flopping. This feeling is caused by the "false" heartbeat. the ventricle contracts too early and there is no blood in the chamber so it pumps but no blood is in there to be pumped out. Excessive PVCs can cause "heavy chest". this is a feeling of heaviness in the chest similar to the descriptions of heart attack symptoms. It is very unsettling the first time it is experienced.
My friend was victorious in his trial. The issue of the unfairness of paying twice for workmen comp benefits will not be addressed in this case. Is there ever really justice if injustices are constantly not addressed? Michael Sandel's book Justice is a great book that discusses theories of justice. As with most subjects, justice is never as clear as it seems. When subjected to a philosophical analysis our general thoughts about justice often run hollow, short sighted and unsupported.
I have a trial next week. Will my client get justice? If justice is defined as a resolution to the dispute without anyone getting killed, then yes he will get justice. Beyond that justice will simply be what the eight people on the jury determine it to be.
Life is not fair. Or is it? My friend points out that we often say life is not fair because other people are better looking, smarter, richer and funnier. If everyone was the same and equal in all those characteristics would we want that kind of a world? Fairness is easy to determine on the playground in grammer school but the issue becomes more cloudy as we grow older. If everything was fair would we all be Shakespeares or janitors?
