My Civic Duty

So today was a first ever for me. Jury Duty. I don't know how I've escaped it so far and I only say it that way because that is the impression I had about serving from others I've heard talk about Jury Duty. I've never seen anyone jumping for joy at the mailbox with a summons to serve as a juror before. But to be honest, it sounded somewhat intriguing to me and of course, I wanted to perform my civic duty as an upstanding citizen of Leon County.

So it was an early morning having to be at the courthouse at 8am. Can I say that I'm so glad I don't work downtown?! That is not a fun commute. Upon checking in we get herded into a room that seats about 150 with over 200 prospective jurors there. Starting to look like a government operation already. Fortunately I was prepared for a long day of boredom (since they said we would be waiting around alot through the selection process) so I brought a magazine, book and my laptop for some mean games of solitaire.

After 4 previous jury pools went out they finally called my name. Excited for a change of scenery and to be out of a crowded room, I got my badge and followed the clerk upstairs. I've never done the court thing before and don't really care for Law and Order so I didn't know what was next. But I quickly found out... more sitting around waiting.

To make a long day into a short story, I did get to actually go into a courtroom, listen to all the judge question potential jurors, listen to all the attorneys do it all over again - all the while going through the answers to the questions in my head. Somehow I figured when I said occupation was "pastor" that would be a strike against me. I'm sure the defense isn't hip on people who believe in absolute truth.

I sat and sat some more. We got dismissed, we came back in... rinse and repeat that process. When it was all said and done I never did anything. So much for my civic duty. I sat around all day with total strangers and was never even asked a question. Most around me were glad they didn't have to serve or come back next week for a trial. I kept thinking, "Well, at least if that happened today wouldn't have been a total waste." And it cost me 5 bucks to park and 10 for lunch. So my civic duty actually cost me money. Go figure.

I'd like to somehow say this experience had great spiritual implications in my life. Nope. Not that I can think of right now. Just another day in the journey of this thing called life.