Even though I dread receiving little white jury summons envelope, I have to say that today was quite refreshing just to be with… strangers. Jury duty is one of the only, if not the only, mandatory meeting place of people from all walks of life and you’re stuck with them for days on end. It’s talking to people like them— and by them I mean people in the “real world”— that my world suddenly seems so small, so sheltered.
He’s a single dad running a pest-control business trying to make ends meet. She’s unemployed and loving the retirement life. He works in sales and is worried about getting laid off for not making commission this week. She is 21, engaged, and ready to start a family.
Her father was murdered and her son was convicted of murder. She is struggling to make ends meet with her recent layoff.
When she was 12, her house got broken into and she saw her mother get sexually abused and her father get beaten with a knife. She testified since she was the only one not blindfolded.
.. and the stories go on. Walking into a local Starbucks, I struck up a conversation with a woman who has three children and is currently going through empty-nest syndrome. Her oldest son is in medical school and you can just see her pride beaming through her eyes. From the non-stop listening I did during the hour-long lunch break, I could tell she really missed her children and having someone to talk to. Next to her sat a 32 year old black male who was spitting game at every girl who walked in. Next to him was an middle aged Asian man who voluntarily cleaned the counters when he saw that the Starbucks workers were swamped. Again, the list goes on…
After catching up with an old friend and getting deeper with new ones this past month, I’ve realized that it is so easy to overlook our sphere of influence. We come into contact with more people than we realize yet never think twice. It’s about me… and my first world problems. I love people watching but now I am definitely going to make it a point to be more intentional in my interactions.
Highlight of the day:
When one juror cunningly tried to be dismissed by claiming he is does not think that every person deserves a right to a fair trial, the judge was equally keen and told him that he was to sit on the jury for the day and be severely inconvenienced for the rest of the week. Lesson of the day? Don’t mess with the judge.
