It was an overcast cold Northeast Ohio day on the Chardon square. Binky was standing near the 20 foot statue of that judge and feeding the pigeons. A woman approached him and greeted him warmly. Everybody seemed to like Binky right away. She said her name was Deborah Kowalski and she worked in the office that keeps the court records for the entire county. Binky handed her the bag of seed and together they began feeding the pigeons. She explained what she did for the county. She told Binky that she was in charge of keeping all the records straight for all the court cases.
Binky said, “That sounds like a lot of work.” She said, “I have a lot of good people working with me.”
When they had finished spreading the bag of seed Ms. Kowalski asked Binky if he would like to go to the coffee shop and warm up with a cup of coffee. It was cold outside and Binky quickly agreed.
When they got their coffee Ms. Kowalski asked, “Binky, do you like to do math problems?”
“Oh yes, math was my best subject in school,” Binky said. Ms. Kowalski took out a calculator, a legal pad and one of those cardboard flyers that judge had mailed to everybody in the county. She showed Binky the section that said the judge had 6400 hearings last year. “Wow,” Binky said. “That’s a lot.” Ms. Kowalski said, “Let’s find out how many hearings he does every day.”
First, they took 365 days and subtracted the 104 weekend days in a year. That judge probably didn’t work on weekends. Then they subtracted for a two -week vacation. Binky said, “Yes a vacation is good. It lets you get rested and feel better.” By subtracting they found that there were 247 days for that judge to work. Binky was good at long division and he figured that judge had over 3 hearings every hour of every work day.
“Can he do that many? Can he really get that many done?” asked Binky.
Ms. Kowalski chuckled and said, “Binky, those are judicial robes he wears not a superhero cape.”
It took Binky a minute to get it. There wasn’t much irony in his life and Binky was a literal guy.
Binky was quiet for a moment and then said, “He’s doing so much work that he must be really tired. That’s why he’s grumpy and yells at people so much.”
Ms. Kowalski changed the subject. “I heard you got an award.”
“Yes,” said Binky. “Sheriff Heidelberg gave me a snow shovel with my name engraved on it. He said it was for being a good citizen and helping shovel off the snow from the courthouse steps. I didn’t want people to slip and fall.”
“Congratulations Binky,” said Ms. Kowalski.
She didn’t say it but what she was thinking was, as soon as that judge hears about Binky’s shovel he’ll probably give himself another made up award with a gold-plated shovel that the taxpayers will have to pay for.
Ms. Kowalski looked at her watch and said, “Binky it’s time for me to get back to work.”
“Yes,” said Binky. “The pigeons will be getting hungry too.” Binky bought several large muffins for the pigeons.
As they were leaving the sun was trying to poke through the gray clouds above Chardon. Ms. Kowalski said goodbye to Binky. As she was leaving she thought to herself, “Yes, it’s true. People really do like Binky.”
NEXT TIME: A Field Trip
The opinions expressed are solely those of Dave Partington and of course Bud, Randy, Harold, Larry and the rest of the guys sitting at the bar at Bud’s. Bud’s Geauga Corners is a work of fiction. Bud’s Geauga Corners is paid for solely by Dave Partington.
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