Last evening Dr. Alex had to see patients (which is pretty suspicious since Dr. Alex is not a doctor) so I was available to have dinner with my brilliant attorney friend, Perry Mason. Yes, you all know about Perry. He can solve any case, especially towards the end of his one hour show. No witness, no criminal, no opposing attorney can match up to Perry's legal brilliance. Perry and I met at a quiet, dimly lighted, Croatian restaurant, right off the winding road by Perry's home. Great food, wonderful service and to die for cevapici. Cevapici is the Croatian answer to our hamburger and this place can do Cevapici like no other Croatian restaurant in the area.
We were both starved and quickly placed our order. Perry had just finished a grueling murder trial and was very wound up with all the stress from the court hearings. (By the way, Perry was able to get the accused to confess under cross examination just before the trial was about to end. He always has a knack for inducing confessions). Perry began to discuss the judge who was presiding over his trial. With that conversation Perry then segued into the Supreme Court Senate Hearings that are currently taking place.
Perry then blurted out something that I was quite taken aback by. "You know, a judge will not be nominated for the Supreme Court unless she/he have attended an Ivy League school". Perry then went on to say even though he is a brilliant attorney because he attended a "mediocre" law school that was not part of the "Ivy's" he would never even be considered for a Supreme Court Judicial appointment. With this announcement I placed down my Cevapici and declared "no, no, Perry you are so wrong". I knew this couldn't possibly be true, or was Perry correct ?
I began thinking to myself while I continued to watch but not really listen to Perry rant on with his bitter diatribe. Do we decide someone or somethings fate simply by the superficiality of the school they attended, their locale (as in grapes for wine) or the suit they wear? Doesn't it matter what they did with their education, their accomplishments. Just like in wine does it matter if the grapes the wine was made from were grown in the Northern Rhone region of Hermitage or Edna Valley from California. In other words "does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man"?
I continued to ponder this question as I watched Perry become more agitated. His lips were moving and I knew he was talking but I was deep in my own thoughts. I began to reminisce about two different Syrah varietal wines that I was once lucky enough to experience. The first was the Alban 2004 Seymour's Vineyard from Edna Valley in California. The following month I was fortunate to be offered another amazing Syrah, but this one was from the Northern Rhone region of France. This spectacular wine was the Jean-Louis Chave 2005 Hermitage. Merci beaucoup, yes, thank you very much, moi was one happy wine drinker. Both of these bottlings of greatness would bring a gasping "awe" to anyone privleged enough to enjoy them.
These wines both presented different tastes, with the Alban, dark, savory blackberry and blueberry. The Chave offered more black mission fig, plum, espresso and leather. Complex, serious wines from different regions, different continents and different winemakers. Even with all of their differences they were definitely of the same caliber. Yes, wines that are respected, desired, even coveted. Their fate for review and judgment was open to the critics decision. The Robert Parker types of the wine world could designate any number to them, high, medium or even low. Yes, they both had great pedigrees but in the end they still needed to prove their greatness.
So, how could the brilliant jurist from the mediocre law school be overlooked for the highest court of our country? Was Perry correct? Are we simply judged by the path our vine took root in or can our vines develop from the struggles of our labors, the wisdom of our experiences, and the depths we try to reach for?
I decided to let my thoughts subside and rejoin Perry in this discussion. We now ordered our dessert of Palacinke (a wonderful crepe like concoction) and Perry had calmed down a bit. I told Perry I thought if he wanted to, he could explore the idea of an appointment to the Supreme Court. Just because he was a TV attorney his fate was not sealed. Yes, he could change suits. If this was what his goal was he now could do what was neccessary to make it a reality. No more weekly, one hour TV series but truly pave the way for his goals. The worst thing he could do was feel saddled and stapped in by his mediocre law school and current lacking TV audience. (Perry did go to a stage lot law school). But he wasn't pigeon holed forever. It would take hard work, and sacrifice but if this was what he desired Perry and his agent could forge a new direction, even find a new screen writer. Yes, there were great possibilities ahead.
Perry was actually thrilled by my suggestion. Now with dessert finished, Perry reclined in his dinner chair and declared to me that "Mrs. Reed, you are absolutely spot on, it is not the suit we wear but the man inside the suit and what we do with it that truly matters". Just like it doesn't really matter if your grapes are from California or France. How you tend the vines, treat the soil, decisions you make along the way each and everyday is what matters the most.
With our bellies now full with delicious Croation delicacies and sleepiness starting to overtake our thoughts, it was time to say "good night". Perry and I both felt like we had made some progress in answering the age old question regarding the man and the suit. Are people really typecasted for life or can we break free no matter what suit we began our journey in? You never know, maybe Perry will decide one day to go work for the San Francisco Police Department. Possibly he'll be injured on the job and become a "special department consultant" and even change his name to "Ironsides". Who really knows what course our life will take. But the one thing I am sure of is leaving it to the "fates" instead of trying to control your own destiny will leave you in a very empty, thread bare suit.
By the way, the wines mentioned above our each 5 aprons with 6 wooden spoons. Mmmm good!
Hope your apron pockets are filled with goodies.
Please let me know what you think. Mrs. Reed is very lonely and Dr. Alex has some "splaining" to do for his patient excuse.
XXOO
Mrs. Reed
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