jury duty

the oddest thing happened to me and jed - we both got jury duty on back-to-back weeks! my jury duty was last week, and thank goodness i didn't get chosen. turns out, i knew one of the parties being defended, and the other party's attorney does printing with the business i work for. i guess that meant i would have an opinion about the matter, so fortune smiled on me and i left.

however, before leaving, i couldn't help but look around me and notice how entertaining people are. there are several categories i would divide my fellow jurors into: those blissfully unaware of the world around them, the quiet obervers of the world around them, and those bored in every aspect of life.

category one is always defined by particularly entertaining people. a few gems from this category were in the waiting room with me that day, and the strength it took to keep my jaw shut was great. one in particular loudly proclaimed the stories of her past jail stents, an arrest for assault and battery, and current accusations from a "friend" of hers. i was glad to hear that she quit wearing a knife in her boots just a few months ago. she gets a 5 star rating on the "blissfully unaware of the world around them" chart. most people would change their identity before offering such information.

category two is what i would place myself into. i brought a book with me, but the people from category one made it too tough to read. it was even tempting to take notes of all these people, but i figured that might be too obvious. (thankfully, the mental inscription these people gave me remains for at least a few more months.) on occasion, a category one will venture into a conversation with a category two and the category two typically glances at another category two with a pleading look in their eyes that says "HELP!" conversations between category ones and category twos just don't happen too much.

what does happen more often is that the category one people chase after the category three people and stun them with fact and fiction, without end. most of the category threes are dying to be entertained in some shape or form, but simply possess no ability for entertainment in themselves. of course, this is category one's delight!

the conclusion to my assessment of the situation is this: when people are anonymously thrown into a room, they automatically assume a category and then immediately bond with those in their category. the ensuing entertainment is truly beyond words. i guess we'll see what happens to jed today...