When Jeanette Pivnick and I went to City Hall in San Francisco to apply for our license for our Aug. 12 wedding at Temple Beth Sholom back in 1950, I was not quite 21 years old. Therefore it was necessary for me to bring along my dad to sign for me.
When the clerk asked me to sign, I began to read some of the text above where my signature was to be, and everyone urged me to please just sign the document.
“There are other people waiting in line. Please do hurry,” the clerk also admonished.
But I decided to read on anyway and noted a rather significant error. It turned out that the clerk had assumed that because I looked so young, I was just a friend or relative who came along to serve as a witness or to be a spectator. The clerk had made out the form for the license to be issued to my bride to be married to my dad.
A good lesson to always read first what you are about to sign!