Civic duty

This week I'm having a true cultural experience ~ jury duty. Wow. Thankfully the Jury Pool room had a large picture window; otherwise, my mildly claustrophobic nature would not have endured being cooped up for several days. I'm quite certain I could never be a judge. The first morning (which included endless waiting), the jury clerk released us at 12 for lunch. "Be back at 2:30," she advised. I was ecstatic to be able to leave the holding pen, but two and half hours for lunch? My first thought was, "No wonder the government is so inefficient."

I did have a very interesting conversation with a fellow juror, whom I'll call Dottie. She first surprised me by insisting, "You're not from around here, are you?" I wasn't really offended when she assumed I was a (gasp!) Northerner. She attempted plenty of discussions regarding cellular cleansing, juicing, colon irrigations, reiki, and some hokey type of floatation encounter. After realizing that I had zero personal experience regarding these necessary procedures, she looked down her nose at me rather scornfully and announced, "My gosh, you're boring, aren't you?" Thankfully, my Southern manners have taught me how to respond gracefully to such rudeness, and we managed to have several pleasant discussions about a variety of topics.

Apparently I proved my worth to Dottie, since she invited me home to lunch with her. I conceded (didn't really have a reason not to go). She prepared her lunch and then replied, "This is what's gonna happen. I'm gonna go in there and take a nap. You do whatever you want." I came armed with reading material, so this suited me fine. I was only mildly weirded out when Dottie called me into a small dark room, and my drama-queen self thought, "Oh great. This is the part where she chops me into tiny pieces and then eats me for lunch." (Combo of too much Alias and James Patterson, I guess.) But Dottie was only showing me where the television, computer, and comfortable seating were located. Bless her soul. Despite the musty odor and dog hair floating in the atmosphere, it was much more pleasant to spend 2 1/2 hours in Dottie's house than in a nauseating & stuffy Jury Pool room.

And it does pay to be cordial, I've discovered. Thanks to Dottie, I have several intriguing additions to my "must read" list, and two potential housesitting gigs. Finally at 3:30, we were called to court, and I listened with fascination as the first attorney quickly obtained a 10-minute life history on each juror. People continue to amaze me. The vast wealth of life experiences represented by only twelve people is truly incredible, not to mention the theatrics employed by several jurors in attempt to be excused from duty. What a day.