Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Proud to be an American

Monday I was summoned for Jury Duty. While I waited in a large white corral area with 300 other annoyed potential jurors I started to write a post about how they could improve the Jury duty experience (ie provide danish, invest in arm chairs, get screens with information like at the airport, create smaller waiting rooms, get a freakin subscription to Domino or Blueprint, ect).

However, as the day wore on and I went through the selection process for a week long felony case, my chances for creating a really funny post from this experience started to diminish.

After I was selected for the jury I am currently serving on, and after hearing the horiffic details of the case at hand all I am left with is gratitude.

I am grateful for the family I am part of and the extreme privledges I got for free. I am so humbled to live in a country with this, while very imperfect, working justice system. I am so lucky to have a job that will pay me to serve out my civic duty. I am so thankful that my country is only asking 5 working days of my time and still letting me come home each night to my wonderful husband, instead of asking me to relocate to a different country and requesting my whole existence.

Serving on a jury is an inconvenience, but a blessing.

(Sorry if there are typos, the spell checker isn't working and I am a HORRIBLE speller on my own)

9 comments:

Courtney said...

It's amazing what a little perspective can do for a person, huh?

I'm glad you are getting something positive out of this experience.

We are very blessed in this country, and all too often we just take it for granted.

(p.s. I can't spell either!)

Far From Perfect said...

I wish more younger people like you could see it that way. The system does work, it's my job. I advocate for childrens rights.... most days it's too sad to bear, but I believe in our legal process. Remember we all have choices...TTFN

Anonymous said...

I served on 2 juries while we lived in Aberdeen. It will interesting to compare notes - are you coming to Spokane for Thanksgiving?

Anonymous said...

Good for you.

Thank you for taking your civic duty seriously.

A friend of mine told me she wore pink and acted like she didn't understand anything when she was called... just to get out of it. I scolded her.
If she's ever before a jury of her 'peers' I hope she gets people who take the duty seriously.

Personally, I LOVE jury duty!

The Barkers said...

Crazy - I've never been called, but Denise has been, twice.

Author said...

My jury duty experience was less-than-inspiring; I'm glad yours is going well. Isn't it hard not to talk about the details of the case????

Anonymous said...

i've never been called for jury duty, but i always thought it would be interesting to serve on a jury and see cases from that perspective than from that of a reporter.

Anonymous said...

Family is everything. Do not forget that. A tree without roots cannot survive.
I am glad you recognize the value of family.

Anonymous said...

I am very proud that you realize how blessed we are to live where we live. It is a very interesting phenominum that Americans are getting fat while the rest of the world is starving.

Oue judical system is a very important of our government and our government was inspired by god. As members of the LDS Church we are comanded to be involved in the political process.