I Don't Care, I'm Still Correct

As I had expected, my Am. Law class last night yielded fun times. We got to role play! All of his hypotheticals involved the introduction of a new Canon of Construction. In our first case, I got to play prosecutor. I won my case in both the "trial" and "appellate" courts (as if there had been any doubt I wouldn't win in the first place). Since no one in my class likes to talk or participate, I took it upon myself to volunteer for roles in the next few cases and got a couple of eye rolls from the 28 year-old teaching my class. I played the trial judge in one case and the appellate judge in the next. In my decision as the trial judge, I added my own opinion of what I thought the prosecutor forgot to argue. Even though I had disregarded the correct process altogether, I had a valid point. This conversation proceeded:

28 year-old guy teaching my class: Do you know what dictum means?

Me: No.

Him, while laughing: Well, it's part of the judge's decision that is completely irrelevant. It doesn't help the judge come to his decision, it's just something he wants to throw out there to make his decision more painful for us to read. So, thank you for your opinion, Miss Intern, but nobody cares!

-Everyone laughs-

Me: Gah, I'm going to be a great judge one day! I'll be taking campaign contributions after class, thank you!

This reminds me of a time in 8th grade when my English teacher, Mr. I Think I'm Hot Shit, called me an instigator. I didn't know what that meant at the time so I went home and looked it up in a dictionary. Since then, I have thought of that story probably every time I've heard the word.

The moral of the story? I will now forever remember the first time I learned the definition of dictum. Faaaaaantastic.

Oh, and last night I ripped the crotch in my jeans when my foot got stuck and I fell over. Then, five minutes into my first class today, I spilled coffee all down my shirt. What the hell? I'm a mess.