Love That Jury Duty!
I go to Jury Duty Tryouts about every 6 months. I have no clue why so often. I got my newest summons yesterday. Here its an all day affair because in our small county gathers a pool together and march them into every major trial going. So if your not picked for one you might be picked for another. Maybe that is the way everyone does it, I don’t know. For me its a double edged sword. I get to sit for long periods not talking… I know…like WOW, she goes without talking??? When its court ordered I can! WHOO HOO! Bwahaa! For the first few hours I am thinking of all the things I am going to say when I can talk again, but after a while start to think deep thoughts. What else is there to do, I have counted all the light fixtures in the room, the people, multiplied the people times a standard salary per day, I have counted the people who were able to sneak a book or newspaper in, (lucky skunks!) so now its time to think deep thoughts.
I was in a jury room when I decided to start this blog. I had started a blog many times. I think the most I got to was 12 posts. The least was just 1. The blog-o-sphere is littered with my failings! * HOOT * My problem was I didn’t write about myself. I wrote about what I thought was more important stuff. Great Danes, Politics, Art. I got bored and I was a perfectionist. I make typos now and some I change and some I leave. That would have never done in an important article about Bloat and Torsion in Great Danes. I eventually wrote only for the person out there who would judge me. In reality that person was me, now that I think about it. I just created in my head a nameless person out there who would see the article as crap. All that focus on perfection sucked the fun out of it and I just stopped.
Sitting in that Jury Room last January I thought about the hopes and dreams of the players in the scene before me. The defendant, the plantiff, their families what did they want out of life? After this cavernous disruption of their lives what would be important to them? I put myself in each of their shoes and thought what if it was me? How would I start over? Its rather easy to prioritize your life when you have 8-9 hours to cool your jets and listen to people’s lives gone wrong. Not reality TV, no fancy editing or commercials, just real people and the agonizing wait for the outcome they desire and in the process the crushing surrender of all control over the events in between.
I knew at the end of the day I would walk out of there without being picked for duty. Hippie-Tree-Huggers don’t sit on juries, lawyers never know what us weirdos are going to care about. We are wild cards. The only question left was I going to walk out of there with a blessing of a day well spent?
After answering dozens of jury summons. I finally arrived at not just surviving the day, but making it count for something. I didn’t tally up the days I had wasted, but I knew that outside of jury duty I had let quite a few days go by without so much as a smile for a stranger. I had let too many days pass without nurturing my creative self. What was I going to do about that? This blog became the answer.
Come July 27. I will get goosed by the handheld metal detector, and try (unsuccessfully) to sneak a book into the Grand Jury room of the Hood County Courthouse. I will see if Cliff the Bailiff is retired or not. I will have remembered to wear a sweater I can pull down over my hands because its like a Frigidaire in thaire! I will count stuff, people watch, and think about ALL the other things I could be doing for about 2 hours, then I will give in and start learning what I need to know to make the most of the next 6 months of my life.
I might come out of it with some insights beyond the legal ones, or I might wish I was sneaky-er and brought a giant sack of snacks.
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Freebie Thursday!
I have a little freebie for you from the extended offer Grab Bag #6. Usually these babies only last a weekend at this price, but you can still pick up ALL the goodies in the bag for only $4.00 US.
Let me check Kim’s Blog and see if she revealed them yet…
Yup! See what’s in the bag AND still get it on sale.
Ignore the dates on this Ad above…sale is extended till tomorrow ( Friday)
Here is my little freebie…
http://www.4shared.com/file/116887062/9544b648/butterfly_twist_freebie.html
Shout out to my Mom and Dad, traveling up the Pacific Coast Highway today, visiting all my brothers and their wives along the way. Salute! They are ending up in Mount Vernon, WA where my dad is going further to Salmon fish in Alaska with my oldest brother, Randy and his wife Wendy! Sounds pretty cool, right?
We can only wish to be churning out adventures like this when we are all in our 70’s! Here is to my nomadic parents and their cool lives!
Actually my Mom is more into Buddy Holly and Dad, well he whistles whatever happy tune to stick in he head. So vintage Steppenwolf might go unappreciated. Its the thought that counts, right??
*chuckle*
Rock on M & D!
Love,
Edited: July 9th, 2009