jury [joor-ee]
such a group selected according to law and sworn to inquire into or determine the facts concerning a cause or an accusation submitted to them and to render a verdict to a court.
Synonyms include: board, judges, peers, tribunal

I called in last friday to see if I had jury duty this Monday..."You do NOT have to appear in tomorrow," said the recorded message. Whew...dodged one. I called in again on Monday to see if I had to come in on Tuesday and I got the same message. "Sweet!" I thought! This is a good sign! But sadly, all good things must come to an end.

The perk of my first day of jury duty on Wednesday was having Joe up on the 11th floor suffering through the long day of sheer nothingness with me. We texted back and forth, called each other a couple of times and we even had some bento boxes for lunch together. How random is it to get called into jury duty on the same day as a friend? Probably as random as having a co-worker serve too! One of our managers at work, Tim, was in the same jury waiting room as Joe. Crazy coincidence!

Jurors sitting in the waiting room are typically dismissed between 4:00-5:00 pm. At 3:30, the room I was waiting in was sparse. There was barely anyone in there so I figured we were home free. DOH! I SPOKE TOO SOON. They called in a panel at 3 freakin' 30 and I was one of them.

I am one of 35 potential jurors who were called in for a criminal case that, as you all know, I am not allowed to speak of until I am no longer assigned to it. Of the 35, 3 have been re-assigned to civil cases and 13 have been dismissed. That leaves 19 of us who, tomorrow, the judge and two attorneys will finish questioning in order to choose a group of people who will listen to testimonies given by witnesses and look at the evidence provided, and be able to determine, WITHOUT A REASONABLE DOUBT, the fate of the defendant.

I know people would rather be doing anything other than serve as a juror, but based on what I've experienced so far (the wrench it shoves into the well-oiled machine that is my daily life aside), jury duty will probably teach you more about your nation's government than school ever could. It's all those rights and amendments we studied but never really took time to see its relevance in our lives. Sometimes you need to give in to civic duty to get even just a glimpse.