Today I had to appear for jury duty for the first time ever. Not on my list of ambitions, but eventually most of us have to do it, or maybe I was just not clever enough to get out of it :)
As I walk into the building I see portraits of the president and vice president. I think to myself, how much money do they spend across the United States changing portraits when a new president comes into office? Surely they could put a nice picture of the capital or Washington Monument in place of them and save the taxpayers money.
I approach the elevator and see a few friends. We exchange Hi's then they inform me that only one of the six elevators in the building are working. I don't know whether to applaud the government for cutting cost during these economic times or see it as a clear sign of the governments inability to fix anything.
About 40 of us have been herded into a room awaiting instructions. There are no newspapers, magazines, or other news related items in this room. Only fliers about what the court systems do for us, nice if I were looking for something to put me to sleep. Hardly grand for a guy who has a hard time standing still. If I have to give a few days to the government, I'd rather work on the elevators. I could probably have a couple of them going in this time
I jotted the above down on a scrap piece of paper while I was in the waiting room this morning, then my pen ran out of ink. I couldn't bring any technology with me. No cell phones, PCs, Ipads, Ipods, newspapers, magazines, etc. They have about obsoleted the pen, except when the technology disappears, either by demand of the courts, a disaster, or by our choice. It is so hard to just be still. Even as I sat there alone (I'm not really one to start a conversation), my mind still raced on what I could be doing and needed to get done.
The courts definitely have jury selection down to a science. Of the 40 or so jurors, no one stood out a bit. They all fit the bill of the average American.
As jurors began telling the judge why they couldn't serve, I realized that I'm on call till May, might as well get it over with during the slow times. So I stayed quiet knowing that statistically I was the target juror for either the prosecutor or defense.
There is never a good time to be on jury duty. Especially when you run a small business. Is the phone ringing? Do customers need me? What opportunities are we missing?
The judge asked if any of us had heard about the case on the news and since I haven't hardly watched the news in several years it was hard for me to get out of jury duty. How about that, I finally found a use for the evening news.
I ran to my car during lunch. That's some wind we had today. 25 emails, 6 missed calls, two voicemails. And that's with Amber taking care of the bulk of business matters today. No time to sit down for lunch. Two business opportunities missed. I may have salvaged one during lunch but the other is lost. Just a few hours delay can be the difference between working and being out in the cold.
I can't talk about the case, but I'll keep you posted on my jury duty ventures. According to the courts I will find my experience "both rewarding and fascinating"
We'll see
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