Jury duty was another reminder to take care of myself. The case centered on a 69-year-old man who, in the words of the defense, had a complicated medical history, smoked more than a pack of cigarettes a day in addition to being a frequent consumer of beer. His last stint in the hospital was for
femoral bypass surgery. He had several diagnoses including,
peripheral vascular disease,
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and had previously undergone surgery for
carotid stenosis.
I spent seven days with people who, before that point, had been total strangers. If I had to be on jury duty, this crew was the one to endure civic duty.
I leave you with some words from the woman who sat next to me in "the box:"
I zoom past the produce, Juror #612 informed us as we talked about blueberries and mangoes.She has four or five cans of sweetened condensed milk on standby.Kids make own grocery list and will not be allowed to consume anything purchased that did not appear on said list, including lemon meringue pie made from items on mama's list.Dislikes even one brown spot on bananas and is not crazy about soft apples either.Strawberries are the bomb as long as they're at room temperature.Lunchbox: Spiderman (only one available at the time)Inside of lunch box: small bottle of Tabasco Sauce along with fried chicken et al.Comment of the week: "You apple eaters are getting on my nerves," Juror #612 said as she took care of her Papa John's slice.I don't do alone -- thoughts on Division 12's solitary cell that we walked past on the way down to the courtroom.I'm going to the zoo this weekend just to get a funnel cake; that's it. Going to the zoo and not getting a funnel cake is like going to Six Flags and not getting a turkey leg. It would be like going to Louisiana and not getting crawfish.Just like milk, we all have an expiration date.After we were dismissed from the trial, there was a brief break in the rain as we walked to the parking garage. I told juror #612 that, if it started raining again, we could make a run for it to which she responded, "
Now we sat up there and watched you eat Greek yogurt; I'm not running. I don't even run to the bathroom when I have to use it badly."
Another juror, #635, told me that if anyone dies of soda consumption, she might just be the one and she would, happily,
go gentle into that good night if soda is the cause...
During our last meal together, I asked Juror #635 if she were an abuser since she told me that her husband had scrambled to cut the grass the previous day when she arrived home early. He thought she was angry because she didn't kiss him before she left. Only, she was running late and, therefore, no time for a parting kiss.
I had my suspicions that #635 might be a nipple-twister à la Carrie in
The King of Queens (03:25) but, really, the cross-examining had just gotten to me at this point and I was starting to suspect people of all manner of crimes and I had so many objections that it wasn't even funny.
Farewell fellow jurors and goodbye
Citygarden...
This coffee mug pretty much mirrors how I feel. No matter how many self-care activities I've engaged in, I've pretty much lost my patience and a whole lot of goodwill by Friday. I was going for my calm-the-nerves Friday afternoon coffee when the mug slipped out of my hand. One of my friends gave it to me a long time ago. I'm gonna try not to think about broken things and, instead, think about how my aunt amuses me...
I'm not sure that this post is appropriate now that Melinda has her own blog. Nevertheless, here's the gospel and I hope we all get to do some fun stuff soon.
Do not become friends with a refugee if you know what's good for you. Besides the fact that they will make Borat-like pronouncements, the wants and needs of a 'fugee are endless. Despite my admonishment, Hazira is my friend and what follows below is her gospel:
My father was a Marine who loved to talk about his Parris Island days. His brother told him that he needed to turn in his badge when he got his hat shot off after responding to a domestic violence situation as a police officer but the turning in of the badge did not happen.
That's Patti a.k.a The Tenacious One over to the left -- lead climbing a route outdoors and what follows below is her gospel.
Note: Mike is one of my belay partners and Patti's husband. I'm kind of jealous because Mike just took Lead Climbing 101 which I want to, eventually, take.
Jury duty was another reminder to take care of myself. The case centered on a 69-year-old man who, in the words of the defense, had a complicated medical history, smoked more than a pack of cigarettes a day in addition to being a frequent consumer of beer. His last stint in the hospital was for femoral bypass surgery. He had several diagnoses including, peripheral vascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and had previously undergone surgery for carotid stenosis.
