When I first learned that I had been summoned for jury duty, my first thought was: How do the fuck do I get out of this? Then, I looked a little bit more closely at my official summons. I soon learned that not only was I chosen for jury duty, but I was being called to serve on GRAND JURY duty, for two weeks. Oy vey! How would I swing leaving my classroom for two whole weeks!? Luckily (or unluckily) your employers have no choice but to let you serve.
When I arrived at the court house on Tuesday morning at nine am, we, the prospective jurors, were told that out of the three hundred people gathered in that room, only forty-six people would be chosen to be split into two different juries for the next two weeks. The forty-six people would be chosen through a random lottery system. As each name was pulled, and called out loud, I breathed a sigh of relief that my name hadn't been called. That is until I heard my name, forty-sixth, dead last. That's right. I was the LAST person to be called for jury duty. Some guys have all the luck.
Well, here I am. One week down, and one week left to go. I am certainly learning a lot. For starters, my job on the jury is not to decide the guilt or innocence of a person. (Thank God!), but it is instead to decide whether or not to indite on the charges being presented. I am learning lots of legal jargon. I am learning, that I could never, ever, ever be a lawyer. I'm learning that I lead a sheltered life, and that hearing about the rape and murder that take place in NYC, all day long, makes you miss the innocence of the third grade just a little bit. But, what I am learning most of all; is that attending jury duty each day is a lot like attending high school.
Each day we come to our small, windowless room, and find our assigned seats. And similarly, just like in a school setting, it is the people nearest you who become your friends. That's right. There are cliques and crews in jury duty. A jury is supposed to be a sampling of New York City, a cross-section of people, a diverse group. And, sure there are some older people, there are people of different races. But, in my section; there are three boys, and three girls, all between the ages of twenty-four and twenty-nine. These people have become my jury duty besties. My very own jury duty crew. Each day in our one hour lunch break, we explore Chinatown and find new places to eat together. Socially, I am quite enjoying jury duty. (An aside: I even developed a jury duty crush, one that I hope will last once our call of jury is over).
Jury duty ends each day at five pm. And, just like in school there was always that annoying person(s) who would ask a question just as the bell was ringing. Everyone would grew increasingly frustrated, and think, Why does this person care? Shut the fuck up. Class is over. (If you were that person in high school, I hated your guts).
In Jury duty, we have our own grown-up venison of this. Each day at five pm, our day's end, the two most annoying jurors (a unanimous opinion amongst the jurors), ask their long winded questions just as it is time to leave after a long day spent in our windowless room.
In a short amount of time, Jury Duty has already changed my perspective on things. It's provided me with an unusual take on certain issues, one that I may not have realized before. It's really wonderful to learn new things about yourself. And, perhaps the greatest lesson that I have learned is that, sometimes it's nice to have a little break from your real life. It is. But, boy am I ready to get back to my favorite little eight year old booger picker-eaters.
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