LAIRE, LARP... Judge Judy?

It's 4pm on a summer afternoon. What does that mean to me? It means my daughter is napping, my son is doing whatever it is that 7-year-olds do, and I get to sit down and watch Judge Judy.

I've seen this show enough, and expected a battle over an unpaid loan, or bickering about an agressive pet. But today's topic is completely unique: two plaintiffs were suing a woman for failing to return armor after a Live Interactive Medieval Role-playing Reinactment!

I have some experience with LAIRE (Live Action Interactive Role-playing Explorers). I've seen (and love!) the movie Role Models, which has some pretty ridiculous LARP'ing (Live Action Role Playing) scenes. But nothing could have prepared me for seeing the game upclose! A few posts ago, I mentioned that my sister-in-law, Dawn, took engagement photos of Lyle and I last April. It was Easter, in fact, and we headed out to a public park in Everett, WA. When we first arrived at the park, I was stunned to see two men walking past in costume-attire.

Later during the photoshoot, we were able to get a front-row view.



I couldn't have planned this better if I tried!

Anyway, turns out Judge Judy determined the couple "gave" the women the helmet, and didn't "loan" it to her, so they lost their case. But the defendant won $2,500 after being crushed by the 300-pound plaintiff. Whatever the outcome, I think it just became one of my favorite episodes.

[Watch Judge Judy make her ruling HERE and HERE.]