Jury duty…those two words that nobody wants to hear. When that summons comes in the mail you start thinking of all the reasons or excuses that you can come up with to get out of it. To go with the excuses is the inevitable, “that’s why I’m not registered to vote.” I thought of excuses to get out of it and the voter registration thing crossed my mind (I am registered and thus the blame was squarely placed there). I thought about how busy I am, how inconvenient the whole process is and how little I wanted to participate in being a juror.

Leaving my sister’s house this morning(I had to stay there because the courthouse I was summoned to is really far from my pad) at 6:30am in the dark did not help my outlook on the situation, neither did the 25 minutes I spent driving around Norwalk looking for the courthouse! Fast forward about three hours, a large coffee flowing through my veins and two magazines read cover to cover, and I find myself sitting in a courtroom after having my name called to be interviewed to be on an actual jury. Fear and loathing are now entering my conscious as I picture myself having to come back to this room for the next 6 months as I end up being on the longest trial in history. Fast forward again, after the opposing attorneys do a slow dance and flirt with each other for a few rounds, the case is settled and we are returned back to our holding pen. Let’s fast forward one last time and I am cut loose and thanked for my “civil service” and told I am free and clear of jury duty for at least a year.

The crazy thing was after being in the court room and seeing the respect that everyone in there had, and seeing the prosecutor, plaintiff, and defendant, I actually had a new found outlook on the whole process. There were real people that were going to have their lives affected greatly based upon our decisions (had the trial actually gone forth). I was close to being a part of judicial system on some level, and I suppose IT IS our civil duty to actually participate in the things that make our country what it is. Our system definitely has it’s flaws, but is it better to shrug it off or to actually be a part of it and try to make a difference? Criticizing the system is always the easiest thing to do. To end this, I wonder if my outlook on the process and the responsibility would be different if in fact, I had been selected and I had to spend the next few days, weeks or months at the Norwalk Court House. I guess that is something I won’thave to think about for the 12 months.

Juror #8614 signing off…