Endor, You've Lost a Witch
When you think you've seen a lot, a little more comes along to tell you it's never-ending. A lot has been said lately about the justice system in Spain, the most benign that it is not as impartial as it should be. But, one thing that has not yet been said is, that a judge earns so little, they need a second job to pay the bills.
A female judge in Lugo, who is in charge of penitentiary affairs for three prisons, granting paroles, etc., was found out a couple of weeks ago, going around putting leaflets under the windshield wipers of parked cars. A couple of reporters decided to call the number and investigate, because they found it strange that a sitting judge would distribute such advertisements.
When the reporter arrived at the flat, the judge's male "housekeeper" let him in, and the judge took the reporter to the table where she spread out the arcane major. Yes, the judge is also a tarot fortune teller, and she charges twenty euros per reading. Apparently, the cards don't speak very well to her. They didn't reveal to her that the case presented was false, and that the person in need of spiritual reassurance was really a reporter.
It's not the first time her judgment has come into question. She has granted prison leaves to some prisoners that were later revoked by other judges, because they went against professional advice. She has also been known to bring her cat to courtrooms in Santiago at times. Um, yeah. That was hard for me to believe, too. Apparently, back in 2012, there were complaints by some lawyers, that the judge's boyfriend would sometimes walk around the courthouse and in and out of her courtroom with her cat on his shoulder. It was a well-behaved cat for sure. Images of Bewitched come to mind.
Now she's been suspended pending evaluation. I think she needs one, as does the committee or whatever that decided she should have been appointed a judge.
That sort of fly-by-night arrangements are not unusual here. The problem is when they take the form of medical personnel. Some "doctors" set up shop, hurt people, and then disappear. One person we know, that was a legitimate photographer, albeit a bad one, decided to set up a business as "armeiro" in a town a half hour from here, where he owned a flat. An armeiro is a person who fixes bones, sprains, and other things. There was an excellent one many years ago that has since died. He had a gift with his hands of finding the offending bone and putting it right. He had never had any formal training, yet he set bones better than any doctor. He would also tell someone when they had to put themselves in a doctor's hands, though.
Nowadays, armeiros generally have training in physical therapy. One we found nearby, and who has helped my husband, was a physical therapist for a cycling team in Mexico's Olympics. However, he may have permanently retired by now. This photographer/armeiro, however, had no training in anything. He was found out when a neighbor saw a leaflet and decided to try him for a pain he had. When the door was opened, and the neighbor saw who it was, he split his sides so hard, he forgot his pain, and that was that. The word went out, and everybody was crossing themselves in disbelief. I think he later abandoned that practice.
I mentioned picaresque some days ago. Sometimes, life in Spain seems like we're living in the middle of a picaresque novel. Lazarillo de Tormes, you would still be right at home here.
A female judge in Lugo, who is in charge of penitentiary affairs for three prisons, granting paroles, etc., was found out a couple of weeks ago, going around putting leaflets under the windshield wipers of parked cars. A couple of reporters decided to call the number and investigate, because they found it strange that a sitting judge would distribute such advertisements.
When the reporter arrived at the flat, the judge's male "housekeeper" let him in, and the judge took the reporter to the table where she spread out the arcane major. Yes, the judge is also a tarot fortune teller, and she charges twenty euros per reading. Apparently, the cards don't speak very well to her. They didn't reveal to her that the case presented was false, and that the person in need of spiritual reassurance was really a reporter.
It's not the first time her judgment has come into question. She has granted prison leaves to some prisoners that were later revoked by other judges, because they went against professional advice. She has also been known to bring her cat to courtrooms in Santiago at times. Um, yeah. That was hard for me to believe, too. Apparently, back in 2012, there were complaints by some lawyers, that the judge's boyfriend would sometimes walk around the courthouse and in and out of her courtroom with her cat on his shoulder. It was a well-behaved cat for sure. Images of Bewitched come to mind.
Now she's been suspended pending evaluation. I think she needs one, as does the committee or whatever that decided she should have been appointed a judge.
That sort of fly-by-night arrangements are not unusual here. The problem is when they take the form of medical personnel. Some "doctors" set up shop, hurt people, and then disappear. One person we know, that was a legitimate photographer, albeit a bad one, decided to set up a business as "armeiro" in a town a half hour from here, where he owned a flat. An armeiro is a person who fixes bones, sprains, and other things. There was an excellent one many years ago that has since died. He had a gift with his hands of finding the offending bone and putting it right. He had never had any formal training, yet he set bones better than any doctor. He would also tell someone when they had to put themselves in a doctor's hands, though.
Nowadays, armeiros generally have training in physical therapy. One we found nearby, and who has helped my husband, was a physical therapist for a cycling team in Mexico's Olympics. However, he may have permanently retired by now. This photographer/armeiro, however, had no training in anything. He was found out when a neighbor saw a leaflet and decided to try him for a pain he had. When the door was opened, and the neighbor saw who it was, he split his sides so hard, he forgot his pain, and that was that. The word went out, and everybody was crossing themselves in disbelief. I think he later abandoned that practice.
I mentioned picaresque some days ago. Sometimes, life in Spain seems like we're living in the middle of a picaresque novel. Lazarillo de Tormes, you would still be right at home here.
Comments
Post a Comment