Jury Duty (Privilege, responsibility, free country...)

Yesterday (that would be last Friday, now!) I had Jury Duty - since it was State high-stakes testing week, I couldn't do any of the testing with students I needed to as they were doing state tests, so I didn't change it (here we can reschedule up to 6 months in the future). So, I went, and had a really hard time understanding what the gal doing the indoctrination speech was telling us, because she spoke so fast and kept moving in such a way that I couldn't read her lips, so I went up to her when she gave us a short break and asked her a few questions, which she answered, and then she sent me to talk to the people in the lobby about my hearing, and they gave me an exemption since they couldn't guarantee that I'd be able to hear a case adequately, and told me that if I get summoned again, to write "Hearing Impaired" on it and mail it back.

I really have mixed emotions about that. I have never been big on "getting out" of Jury Duty... I've done my stints in traffic court when called, and gone to JD several times and gotten booted because I was a teacher, or because I was a pastor's wife... I even sat on a murder trial one time - for three days.

I won't miss the drive into downtown (always a trip, and I am not talking mileage here)... I won't miss the masses of bodies crammed into one room, or the hike to the courthouse annexes throughout the downtown area, following our Court Officer like children on a school field trip.

But... I WILL miss being part of the process... of going in there and doing my part - because without the people like me who do so.

People sometimes wonder what is wrong with our country... in my opinion - a BIG part of what is wrong (other than the lack of Godliness - but that's for another post another day, and really they ARE tied inextricably together because we are charged to be good citizens...) - anyway, a big part of what is wrong, is the unwillingness of people to do what's right in civic matters: voting, jury duty, helping one another, being kind, good, generous and exercising self-control...

just some rambling thoughts on a very rainy Monday....

have a great week!