Peerless

Today I may look different, but there's a reason for it: I'm working, only, well, not really.

Jury duty, my civic resonsibility, begins today, and it began with a resounding thud. Here I am, all eager to be paid for my opinions, and I'm not wanted. Someone, with her or his hopes and future on the line, is as of this moment squirming in a chair while attorneys laugh and act all businesslike.

This person, faced with a "jury of his peers," will look in vain for me, because the court's (I assume) are saving me up for a bigger, more involved case, later this week.

I can hardly wait.

I've been practicing looking thoughtful and attentive, but I'm as sad as always that the American Justice System doesn't allow the jurors to ask any questions. That's where I'd really shine. We can't permit that sort of thing, maybe because law is too complicated or too special to be practiced by just anyone, and us laypeople don't fully grasp the intricacies of evidence. It must be something like that.

Anyway, I have my juror number and phone number to call, and later tonight I'll see if my services are needed tomorrow. The suspense, as you can imagine, is palpable, but the good news is it's raining this morning so I was able to avoid showing up soaking wet.

Now to get back to answering a week's worth of e-mails. The best news is that the cat I was watching was taken to the vet and the x-rays were negative. For some reason, she isn't eating, and it was a relief to know it wasn't my doing.