One of the things that irks me is when people piss and moan about jury duty. You almost can't find someone who gets a jury summons who doesn't at least talk about ways to get out of showing up or doesn't have some strategy for answering questions in a way that will get them disqualified.
I will henceforth refer to these people as bad Americans. I suggest that anyone that complains about or does not willingly participate in jury duty when called should not be allowed to fly a flag at their house. Now that I think of it, they shouldn't be able to vote, either.
The right to be tried by a jury of one's peers is one of the most important elements of our legal system, no?
And for crying out loud, going to jury duty means you get out of work and might get a shot at hearing some interesting tale that one of the local news stations would probably cover with a specially tailored graphics package. Since when does anyone NOT want a day off of work?
The kicker is that most of the time, you never have to serve on a jury, which means you're out of there by lunchtime and have no chance of getting called for the next three years.
There was a time when my frustration over not getting called to jury duty, or getting a summons but being told I wasn't needed in the "call the night before" process, was growing into quite an issue. I was looking foroward to fulfiling my duty and maybe even hearing some good gossipy stuff.
Well, I finally got to go. I even got on a jury. It wasn't exciting and we deliberated about 20 seconds, but I felt happy to do my part.
It's shameful that so many people seem irked by the very thought of it. Maybe not shameful, just un-American.
1 comment:
Great post! I actually LOVE and look forward to jury duty. I've tried and failed many times to get on the jury. I must appear too desperate.
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