I loved this post, especially “Row of chips not working.”
I love jury duty of course, for all the reasons you cite. Also, almost EVERYTHING is fun and interesting if you know you’ll be writing about it. I don’t understand how the non-writers survive.
I was recently called for jury duty. It came days after I was diagnosed with a heart thing that needed special medical attention and so I reluctantly, sent an email (as directed) with the request to be excused. I got an instant return excusing me from further jury calls. That's when I learned that I had "aged out" of jury duty. Indignant! I asked for temporary medical excuse....not because I'm an 80 year old. Ageism!!! Again!!!
I think you are too hard on yourself with your grade. You don't really have anyone to compare yourself with or a rubric to grade yourself on. I give you an A for effort, and an A+ for writing about it. You gave me wonderful word imagery and made a boring situation quite interesting.
I have never been lucky enough to sit on a jury. The last two times I was called, I didn't even have to go to the courthouse. I find that odd since I often hear they struggle to get jurors, but In Illinois, if a case is settled before trial, you are just off the hook and not asked to sit for another trial. Makes me wonder if it's a cost saving measure (don't have to pay us to sit at the courhouse) or some other reason, I can't conjure.
That's good; yes, the entire jury thing is an exercise in noticing; especially in the court room when you are told not to check your phones and pay attention and not fall asleep (latter is difficult for me). Beware of bonding with fellow jurors; 20 years ago I pair bonded with a night supermarket manager, but when it came to deciding the case (meth addicts doing bad stuff; only evidence was a medical report of the victim) the guy I bonded with stood up, without any other conversation yet having occurred; "I saw they're guilty. They're scum and this is the kind of thing they do". End of story. On the other side were the jurors who said "I don't know. I'll go along with what you all say". Sheesh.
I just "did" my jury service 2 weeks ago; my pool number was the very last one of the batch they selected for the week and I never got called in. Whew!
That's really interesting about the potential peril of bonding! I've never been picked for an actual jury (despite doing service in four states) so I've never had the actual juror experience, but I'll keep this in mind!
Haha, 'row of chips not working' was awesome, but it came at the expense of a poor person, possibly in the same position as you, who probably devastatingly got no chips when they might really have wanted them! And I wonder how many times they tried in order to conclude the whole row wasn't working?!
This was such a wonderful reminder the truly mundane can still be ok. I often find the recounting of boring events or even planning how to record the boring makes it so much more interesting to live through. How did you feel describing it?
I loved this post, especially “Row of chips not working.”
I love jury duty of course, for all the reasons you cite. Also, almost EVERYTHING is fun and interesting if you know you’ll be writing about it. I don’t understand how the non-writers survive.
Thanks so much Anne! And you make a great point about how knowing you'll write about something (or even thinking you might) is game changer.
Thanks for adding the Talkover 2024 playlist!
Thanks for checking it out. It's gonna get a lot longer as the year goes on :)
I was recently called for jury duty. It came days after I was diagnosed with a heart thing that needed special medical attention and so I reluctantly, sent an email (as directed) with the request to be excused. I got an instant return excusing me from further jury calls. That's when I learned that I had "aged out" of jury duty. Indignant! I asked for temporary medical excuse....not because I'm an 80 year old. Ageism!!! Again!!!
That's a bummer! I'm sorry it happened
I think you are too hard on yourself with your grade. You don't really have anyone to compare yourself with or a rubric to grade yourself on. I give you an A for effort, and an A+ for writing about it. You gave me wonderful word imagery and made a boring situation quite interesting.
I have never been lucky enough to sit on a jury. The last two times I was called, I didn't even have to go to the courthouse. I find that odd since I often hear they struggle to get jurors, but In Illinois, if a case is settled before trial, you are just off the hook and not asked to sit for another trial. Makes me wonder if it's a cost saving measure (don't have to pay us to sit at the courhouse) or some other reason, I can't conjure.
I used to not want to be picked, but now I kind of want to have the experience. But how the system actually works is a total mystery to me!
Thank you for the kind words -- and the generous grades ;)
That's good; yes, the entire jury thing is an exercise in noticing; especially in the court room when you are told not to check your phones and pay attention and not fall asleep (latter is difficult for me). Beware of bonding with fellow jurors; 20 years ago I pair bonded with a night supermarket manager, but when it came to deciding the case (meth addicts doing bad stuff; only evidence was a medical report of the victim) the guy I bonded with stood up, without any other conversation yet having occurred; "I saw they're guilty. They're scum and this is the kind of thing they do". End of story. On the other side were the jurors who said "I don't know. I'll go along with what you all say". Sheesh.
I just "did" my jury service 2 weeks ago; my pool number was the very last one of the batch they selected for the week and I never got called in. Whew!
That's really interesting about the potential peril of bonding! I've never been picked for an actual jury (despite doing service in four states) so I've never had the actual juror experience, but I'll keep this in mind!
Haha, 'row of chips not working' was awesome, but it came at the expense of a poor person, possibly in the same position as you, who probably devastatingly got no chips when they might really have wanted them! And I wonder how many times they tried in order to conclude the whole row wasn't working?!
This was such a wonderful reminder the truly mundane can still be ok. I often find the recounting of boring events or even planning how to record the boring makes it so much more interesting to live through. How did you feel describing it?
I agree, thinking I might write about my "adventure" made it more interesting. And it was fun to write! Thanks so much, Kate :)
Love this! Laughed all the way thru!
Mental notes made for when I'm forced into a similar situation.
Thanks Bonnie!