No good deed goes unpunished

Today was marrying afternoon, and work with the first graders morning.

Let's talk about marriages. It was a busy afternoon, I got there around 1:30 and left at a little after 5:00. I did seven weddings in that time. Plus some spying for the second floor staff on the fourth floor Christmas decorations. There is a contest and there is some serious decorating going on. But to the weddings.

One wedding was just lovely. The bride in red satin, black heels with red straps, and a bouquet of red and pink roses. The groom and his attendants were in black. The matron of honor was in a patterned satin dress. Lots of family there, lots of love. It was a good feeling all around. Most of the weddings today were good, some dressed up, some not. And then there was the last wedding of the day.

The information clerk came in around 4:05 and asked if I could stay and do one more wedding. (A couple must be in the system by 4:00 to be married that day by a county commissioner.) I told her it wasn't up to me, the clerks made the call. If they said OK, I would stay. She said they already agreed to do the paper work. When I got the license, I took them upstairs, holding my breath the whole way. The bride had bathed in cheap perfume. Awful! The witnesses did not understand why they had to come up also. I explained they couldn't sign they witnessed the wedding if they didn't see it. One witness I am sure had dementia. She wandered through the wedding, the bride yelled at her to sit down during the ceremony, the grandson kept saying,"Grandma, sit down." After the ceremony I signed and had the witnesses sign. (Remember the couple had put in the information on the license, ID had been checked for witnesses, and the couple read the license before signing it.) As I was handing the license to the clerk to record, the bride said her son's name was wrong. We asked for his ID, and she said he has lost it. She wrote out his name and we started the reprinting process. ID isn't a legal requirement for the witness. So we could just take their word for it. Then everyone had to sign again. End of story right? No.


I talked to the clerks and they had not agreed to stay and do the paper work. The info clerk had told them I wanted them to stay and I had already agreed to do the wedding. We were worked just like kids work parents. Then I found out the clerk had copied the Id for the son from HIS ID. We had the name right. I guess mama didn't like the first husband's name on her wedding license and just made up a name for the son. That quick last minute wedding took almost an hour. As I said no good deed goes unpunished.