“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.” – General Sun Tsu

“A government of laws, and not of men.” – John Adams

It may have been twenty-two months since my mum passed away (September 2023), but Monday I had to go one more round with the paperwork in the ongoing challenge to make sure that probate gets to rest in peace too.

I believe that this time we may have actually got it done.

Granted, all this could well have been accomplished in just six months or so had I managed to crack the secret code before now. So I guess I only have myself to blame.

It’s just a matter of knowing which of the 16,894,293 random permutations Wake County are currently dialing into their Enigma Machine. Then it’s all good.

Good people:

Seriously, though, I have experienced nothing but support and help and understanding from the good folk at the Clerk of the Court’s office on the 12th floor of the Wake County Courthouse downtown Raleigh (the Big Cube).

Monday, for example, I showed up for my appointment and said, “I am so sorry. By most measurements I am supposed to be a fairly intelligent person, but when I received your last letter my brain simply shut down. I honestly thought I had all my ducks in a row and then a couple of them waddled out of line.”

“It’s not you, it’s us,” she said, kindly. “We understand that all of your numbers are legitimate and that you plugged them all in the right places… but…”

Apparently they have a digital system in place that spits things out because it can’t deal with nuance. A human being can say, “we understand exactly why you did it this way,” but the computer has no ability to interpret.

So we went over all the details and she helped me rearrange all the numbers so that the computer would not have another conniption.

“A government of laws, not of men”

In this social/political season it is trendy to criticize bureaucracy and the people who work to keep things humming. But without bureaucracy we would have anarchy.

John Adams strongly believed in the principle of “a government of laws, not of men.” This means relying on established legal principles and not arbitrary decisions made by whoever happens to hold power. 

It also helped that I had all the necessary paperwork with me. I must have seen at least seven or eight people come up to the 12th floor without any supporting documents or even the first idea of how to proceed.

Plus I was respectful, and kind, and polite, and I listened, and I learned – and I made her laugh.

So, once again, mega-kudos to the good people in the Clerk of the Court’s office and for their patience in dealing with me.

It is easy to complain about the paperwork – but I am grateful to live in “A nation of laws…”

– DEREK