Los Angeles is a melting pot of cultures, industries, social and religious divides. This city of almost 4 million people is bound to have an enormous number of disputes happening every day. Unfortunately, most of these disputes end up in court. Mostly due to the fact the the general public does not know any other way of handling that out of hand argument. What is instead of, “I’ll see you in court!” People said, “Let’s mediate!” Well, for one thing I can tell you that people would be just a little bit happier.
Case in point, is an argument I recently witnessed. A Hispanic man was arguing with a Caucasian woman in respect to her store not having anyone who spoke Spanish. Normally, a very common thing in Los Angeles. This argument, however, escalated to constitutional rights debate and legal threats ending the proverbial, “I’ll see you in court!” This got me thinking; actually it got me thinking about two things, one is to take Spanish lessons and another was if I was brought in as a mediator, how would I handle this? To tell you the truth, I am still unsure.
I see both perspectives very clearly. After all, I am a bilingual my self, English and Russian. However, this dilemma really stumped me to a point of considering how would this case be handled in court? Of course, I cannot answer any of my own questions due to the fact that I do not know what would be the demand from either side of the disputants, but I do know that whether heard by a judge or brought to mediation, middle ground could be reached.
Mediation in Los Angeles or any other major metropolis will always focus on the diversity of cultures and it is my job as the mediator to appreciate each one of these views and facilitate their understanding of each other. Be it a personal injury, a collection case, or a simple miscommunication.
