jury duty

I've been walking to work for almost 9 years now, but have never stood in line in the process...until today. Got a summons for jury duty about a month ago. Thankfully the county courthouse is only about 40 paces out of the way for me. The unfortunate news was being a part of what seemed to be some experimental new jury duty process. Ten percent of the town had been summoned, evidently. We waited outside in line for 30 minutes...inside for another 15. The one good thing was being in it together (as a group). The group was fairly diverse, but we all at least had jury duty in common. I stood in line between two mildly talkative people (thankfully). They helped me pass the time. I can be very quiet in unfamiliar settings & this morning was no exception. I'm grateful I was standing with a middle-aged man who regularly (and respectfully) criticized the county's jury duty system. He had a good sense of humor about the whole thing. And I'm grateful for the company of a (former) felon who couldn't have served on a jury if he'd wanted to. He was forced to show up anyway. I felt for him. He seemed like a good guy...someone who could also joke about the overblown jury duty summons. It's rare that I get to rub elbows with folks not associated with the school. I need more of it (desperately)...so for that part of my walk to work today, I'm very thankful.

P.S. Picked up a flattened styrofoam cup on the county courthouse lawn afterwards. One of these days I'll explain why I bother mentioning such things.