The Jury Is Out

Most people over 18, who are registered voters, know the feeling. That sinking moment when you take in the mail and see the dreaded Jury Duty notice. It feels as if we have been trapped. We were located after many years of hiding. We are being forced to call a government bureau each night after 5 PM, to find out our fate. Our number is up...literally. Then, the adventure begins. For some reason we have to reach out to friends and family for reassurance. We disclose our juror number and seek peoples opinions as to whether or not they think we will be called. There is a big debate if the numbers are called in order, from lowest to highest, highest to lowest or from the middle out. The only worse scenario is if you get called for Grand Jury. That means a train ride to unfamiliar territory. If we have children, they are used as an excuse not to serve. We all know that we haven't picked up our kids from school since they were 11, but for some reason, we want the court system to think we are devoted parents that must be home when the school day is over. Even if the kids are 16. Some people seek doctors notes. We would rather be classified as mentally ill than to sit for one day in a jury room. If you want to see a bunch of sad faces go to the jury auditorium at 9 AM. In this case, misery does not like company, as no one talks to each other. We sit silently as people slowly disappear from the room. Sheep to the slaughter. We pray that our punishment will end before lunchtime, and check our watches every few minutes. If someone is thinking of committing a crime, they should spend one day looking at who a jury of their "peers" could be. I wouldn't want any of these people enforcing punishment on me.