Whew...this one is hard!! Okay...here goes...
Dear Lady in the Brown Sweater at Jury Duty,
I can remember heading into the court house for jury duty and thinking, "What the heck am I doing here?" I was scared half to death because I had no idea what to expect. I got in the court room and sat near the back as the room started filling with other people who'd been called. We all sat, quietly, as the Court Commissioner explained our duties and how we would know if we were going to be called in. Then, he listened patiently to those who were desperately trying to get out of it. Then, we all got numbers. I thought that was it but no. My number, along with a bunch of others, was called and told to go into the other court room and wait. Apparently, we were starting immediately!
The antechamber of the court room was full of anxious people - me, being one of them. I sat on a ledge, as there were not enough chairs, and you sat next to me. You brought a book with you which I thought was a genius move because this looked like it was going to take a long time. You smiled and said you were nervous. That's the ice breaker and that's all it took. We stuck together all morning waiting, answering questions, more waiting. Then they let half of us go home, but not our half. We were ushered into a court room and into the jury box. We were going to go through viore dire. I'm sure I've spelled that wrong. Attorneys asked us questions over and over again to determined if we would be a good juror for an upcoming case. Then, just as suddenly, we were sent out for an hour to lunch.
As I was walking toward the exit I heard you say, "I'm going to run out and get a sandwich, you wanna go?" Why not! So we were off to Marina Gardens. Your name was Jane, you told me. I'm Mary Beth. Neither of us had been on a jury before. This was all new and strange and a little bit fun. Before we knew it lunch was over and it was back to the court room. More questions, more answers. More people dismissed.
At the end of the day, you were dismissed and I was chosen. You smiled and said, "Thanks for being my buddy today!" I joked and said, "It wouldn't have been the same without you!" And that was that.
Two people, tossed together in a call of duty, scared and nervous, making friends for one day. Thank you for that, wherever you are!
Judiciously yours,
Mary Beth
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