Had Jury Duty today
Today I had jury duty. I got the notification quite a while ago and was supposed to call last night to see if my group had to report to the court house — I did. So today, I gathered lots of reading material, bottled water, and lunch and reported to the court house at 7:30. I’ve only done this once before so everything seems new to me.
First you have to go through security to get into the building. Smooth and quick and they let me have my sock knitting. Then sign in with the clerks and wait, and wait, and wait, and get assigned a panel color and number (criminal case), then wait, and wait, and wait some more. Five hours later we were told we were all dismissed. So, we turned in our colored numbered cards and could go home.
Last time I actually got into the court room and the lawyers and the judge whittled down our panel pool of less than a hundred and more than 50 down to the twelve jurors and the four alternates. So, this time it I spent the day in the jurors assembly room. Got a lot of reading done. Drank moderately okay coffee and my bottled water. But even though I forced myself to do isometric stretches every chapter and got up and stood every so often — those chairs are killers. I would have found them guilty in a heart beat. They weren’t even cheap chairs. I’m sure the county government spent an indecent amount on these padded chairs for the assembly room. I’m just not sure why chair manufacturers, especially those making chairs for people to sit in for more than ten minutes at a stretch, can’t make a chair that doesn’t kill your back or put your legs asleep.
So in discomfort and in between breaks, I observed my fellow potential jurors. Most brought something to occupy them during the long waits. Many, as I did, brought a book or two or three. Some had magazines. Some had portable craft projects. Some talked on the phone. Some worked on their laptop or PDA. And here’s the group that baffles me — some did nothing but sit and stare into space usually while turning their colored numbered panel card over and over. I’d go bonkers in about 20 minutes if I had to just sit with nothing to do. In an hour, I’d be climbing the walls. How do they do it? Are they all Zen masters? I’m totally baffled by people who can just sit like that and not go berserk. I’m not sure if I should be in awe of people so centered that they can quietly sit for hours or spend my time wondering what they’re thinking about while they’re sitting there — calmly, turning their cards over and over and over.
After I was dismissed, I called my husband from outside the building and walked a mile and a half to the nearest Starbucks to have coffee and wait for him. We only have one car so these sorts of things are a bit of a scheduling problem. While walking out the back tension, I found the day just wonderful. The sun was out and the sky was bright blue with white fluffy clouds. The forsythia was in bloom with its jaunty yellow flowers proclaiming spring to anyone with eyes to see. The Bartlett pears are also filled with their white flowers. But even more startling because I hadn’t yet noticed them this month was the magnolias — white and pink — beautiful blooms that look so startling on the trees without leaves.
In spite of the chairs, it was a glorious spring day.