I had jury duty for the first time yesterday. It was an interesting experience. On one side you have what I think is the standard reaction, the desire to get out of it, the hope that you will not be called, the shuffling of a life for a day or two.
On the other hand I was intrigued. In 21 years of being available to do this small service this was the first time and I was intrigued.
There were two things that I found surprising. First, the number who turned out. From 100 people called on the day I was, 52 showed up. I found that surprising, as not showing up for jury duty never entered my conciousness, partly from fear of large uniformed gentleman with guns showing up at my door who took offense at my not following the summons.
The second thing that surprised me was just how grateful everyone was. From the clerks who kept the coffee pot full, the attorneys who thanked us after initial jury selection in a DUI case was settled once the defendant was faced with the fact of a jury and the two judges, who took time out of thier overtly busy days to come down and thank us for serving.
It was an interesting day, if you get the call, serve, our government asks very little of us, perhaps too little, if to live, work and strive for freedom and happiness, in this great country we are asked once in awhile to give up a few days to participate in one of the fundemental foundations of our country....do it, you will not be sorry.
