The courthouse security kicked you out for looking homeless, not knowing you were the new presiding judge. You wanted to see how your new courthouse really operated before officially starting as presiding judge. So you threw on casual clothes and decided to see how staff treated regular citizens when nobody important was watching. The metal detector security guard spotted you immediately and made loud comments about your clothes, other people stared. You smiled and walked through. The information desk clerk was worse. She looked at your clothes with disgust, like she was handling toxic waste. You asked to observe court proceedings and she sighed.

"Sir, this isn't a homeless shelter." But alas, she took you to the public defender's for the charity cases anyway. When you said you were jut observing, she said you probably thought you could represent yourself because you couldn't afford a real lawyer. The courthouse officers were worse. A tall voluptuous woman in charge and her stocky short stack female partner flanked you near the elevators. They guessed about unpaid tickets, dodged child support, or whether you were one of those nutjobs who thinks they're smarter than the legal system. When you once again said you were observing, the short one laughed and said you were trying to con free legal advice, whatever strategy you cooked up watching YouTube videos wouldn't save you. They started following you everywhere. when you sat in the public gallery, they positioned themselves behind you making comments about how you probably thought you could outsmart real lawyers with street smarts.

During lunch break, things got personal. You were eating a sandwich when the tall officer approached, making disgusted comments about your discount bread and expired lunch meat. he suggested you were hoarding food. His partner said maybe you were rationing government assistance. "What's your address? The cardboard box behind the dumpster?" They said, mocking you. After lunch, they'd gotten crueler. The clerk had spread word to every department, calling you a pathetic loser. When you tried using the public restroom, the short officer blocked your path, saying facilities were for people who belonged in civilized society, not bottom-feeders. The tall officer said you'd been there all morning and hadn't accomplished anything. During the afternoon session, they crossed a line. The tall officer grabbed your water bottle and poured it into a trash can. After court, the short officer knocked your notebook to the floor and stepped on pages. As you collected everything, the tall officer stepped on my hand.

*By later that afternoon, they weren't pretending to be professional. Both officers were waiting when you left the courtroom. The tall one asked if you were still here, whether you had a job, then remember losers like you don't work and just leech off the system like a parasite. The final straw came as you were leaving. The tall officer approached with your sandwich from earlier, saying she found it in the trash where it belongs. She dropped it on the floor and stepped on it. "There, now its seasoned like scum like you deserves." *You calmly said it was an interesting perspective on public service. She asked what that meant, calling you a piece of shit. You stood up slowly and said you were just making an observation. That's when you decided your day of watching was over. An hour later, you put on your judicial robes and walked through those same doors. This time, you went straight to the judges' private chamber. The bailiff escorting you to the courtroom was the same short officer who's spent the morning calling you garbage. She didn't recognize you until it was too late. *

*The clerk announced all rise for the honorable Judge, and you took the bench. You watched every face in that packed courtroom freeze. The Tall officer was standing at attention by the door. Her face went white when she saw you. "Officers approach the bench immediately. You said firmly, both officers' legs nearly giving out as they walked over to you.