The Jury Is In.....

....and I am on it.

A few weeks before Babygirl got her new kidney, I received a summons for jury duty.  I have no objection to serving - in my opinion, it's a small price to pay for living in the best country on Earth.  I was originally called to serve the second week of February, as, oddly, were my mom and Citygirl.  We would have all been in the same jury pool for the same trial!

As you all know, the second week of February proved to be inconvenient, to say the least. I postponed from CHOP, and when one postpones one is immediately instructed to select a more convenient time.  Not knowing what the future might hold, I picked this week.  I figured she'd be all better, back to 'normal'.  Make-A-Wish was aiming for mid-July as far as I knew then.  I had no way of knowing that neither of those things would be true (we still don't know about Make-A-Wish -  we had to cancel because Babygirl was in the hospital).

So I walked into a room with over 100 prospective jurors.  It was fairly evenly divided into  two groups:  Those under 25, and those over 50.  The girl I was sitting next to (who also ultimately made the jury also) just graduated high school two years ago with Boo'sMommy.  One of the prospective jurors (who, to his disappointment did NOT make the jury) was one of the boys who grew up across the street from us.  And more humiliating, in terms of making me feel like an old lady, the DA's intern was a classmate of CityGirl's - the one Babygirl had a hopeless crush on when she was 5 and he was 15.

The first thing the judge asked this morning was whether or not we had any personal emergencies that would keep us from serving.  Well....that's tough to really say.  Just because Babygirl is in school today doesn't mean she won't be in the hospital tomorrow.  But that seemed dramatic, and I have no reason to foresee a problem, so I stayed in my seat.  After all, I would only have to reschedule, and who knows whether the week I pick next would be as promising as this one?

And so, despite the fact that I've been a witness for the prosecution in a court case in the past, despite the fact that I've been impacted by violent crime, and perhaps because of the fact that I don't personally know any police officers (really?) I was selected to serve.

Don't ask what the case is about.  You know better - you took civics class! And I'll fill you in after we reach a verdict, when it's allowed.

Oh!  And when did Mom and Citygirl serve?  Well, the court accepted a doctor's note stating that  my Mom has dementia, so she's off the hook.  And Citygirl is in the City, so I'm not sure what the plan is for her, but I think it's time for her to officially change her address.

DeeDee