There are some remarkably nice, courteous, and compassionate bankruptcy trustees in Arizona.
Which is remarkable.
Because being a bankruptcy trustee is a little like being a Roman tax collector.
Being a Roman tax collector was an hereditary position, and you couldn't just quit; that would be too easy.
So you were born a tax collector and barring remarkable luck, you stayed a tax collector.
And if you didn't collect the quota required of you under the Roman tax system, the amount of the shortfall was made up out of your assets.
Not a pretty system.
I just got off the phone with one of the best, most effective, and nicest bankruptcy trustees in Arizona, and we discussed the fact that in all the courts of the United States, the Bankruptcy Court is the one where the pity pitch is the least effective, because everyone is up against it in bankruptcy court, and therefore an ordinary pity pitch doesn't work. Because everybody has one.
And collection of non-exempt assets still goes on, because that's the fiduciary duty of the bankruptcy trustee, much like that of Roman tax collectors, and there are severe penalties for trustees who don't do their jobs, as well.
The trustee pointed out that this was tax season, or what her office was referring to as "Dickens Season", because the process of reminding debtors that their tax refunds were property of the bankruptcy estate, and taking away those tax refunds, made them feel like Scrooge in Dickens "A Christmas Carol".
The fact that she was able to maintain her perspective and compassion in the midst of so much human misery is a testament to her quality; her parents should be proud of her.
