Always Anna

I just got home from performing that most important of civic duties… Jury Duty. Now, I don’t have a problem with serving - I figure that since I do believe in the idea of having a jury of peers, the least I can do is serve without complaining. However, I am NOT a fan of sitting around an overly air-conditioned room with ridiculously uncomfortable seats for 3 hours, waiting to hear whether the judge will require our services.

I was a little cranky to start with - I had to get up a whole 30 minutes earlier than I usually do, and then take two buses to get to the courthouse I was assigned to. The next three hours were filled with the oh-so-fabulous “Jury Duty” video (no, not the Pauly Shore film), hosted by the Mass Chief Justice, Margaret H. Marshall (who pronounces all “R”s as “W”s, kind of like Elmer Fudd) , a nap, finishing up my book, another nap, a little thumb twiddling…. Around 11:30, the security guard took us into the court room, where the judge thanked us for our time and contribution, and dismissed us. Apparently our very presence terrified all of the defendants into changing their pleas to guilty and accepting their sentences. I feel like a superhero now. A bored superhero, but…. now I have the rest of the day off. Huzzah!