Present Tense

I had jury duty yesterday and today.

I’ve done this about three time in the last few years and this time I was actually pre-selected for a case, along with 40 or 50 other people. But pre-selection doesn’t mean you’re on the hook for a trial. The attorneys first have to select the actual jurors from the pool of pre-selected people. All this was very new to me.

The prosecutor and the defense attorney took turns posing open ended questions to our group. It all felt very preliminary and I kept wishing we would get on with the process. Right after lunch I realized the opened ended questioning was the process. By the time I figured out what was going on, it was time for selection. When the prosecuting attorney excused me, I felt a little rejected, like I hadn’t made the cut. But then I remembered I didn’t want to spend the next few days involved in a trial, and I perked up.