We, the jury

Before I get into the details of the case, I want to talk a little about the jury. I loved the jury. They were quirky, friendly, interesting and smart. Even the Confused Juror (CJ) had some good points, though, I admit, as foreperson she gave me the most trouble. Way more trouble than the hold-out lady--well, at least before she became the hold-out lady. (Don't worry, the majority prevailed--go jury system!)

It was the pants lady (so named because she's the one who gave me a couple pairs of pants) who tapped me to be the foreperson. After the case ended, the judge read his instructions and we were sent back to the jury room to start deliberations. Our first task was to decide on a foreperson. We didn't get right down to deciding. First, we ate the lunch that was waiting for us. In an opportune moment, the pants lady quietly asked me how I would feel if she nominated me to be the foreperson. She said, "You haven't made too many friends--which isn't a good thing or a bad thing--but you're not biased. I think you'd be good at it. What do you say?"

I said, "I'd be happy to do it." Later, she told me she thought I was nervous, but really I was excited. I was glad I'd thought it through and knew I wanted the job. That made it easy to say yes.

We continued to eat and the other Jamy (a woman with the same name as me) said, "So how are we going to pick the foreperson?"

Immediately Jack spoke up, "I nominate [hold-out lady]!"

She said, "Oh no, I don't want to do it. I won't do it." She was firm and everyone believed her.

Then Jack said, "What about CJ? I nominate CJ!"

Now, I was crazy about Jack, but he was an odd duck. He was shy and sensitive and definitely noticing everyone. Yet I didn't think he'd paid much attention to the case. Earlier he'd even asked me if I was going to be the foreperson. I said, I didn't know, it was up to us to decide together. After he nominated CJ there was a silent pause and then the pants lady spoke up, "What about Jamy in the blue?" I smiled and nodded.

The other Jamy called for a vote and I won. Thus, I was foreperson. I'm afraid CJ wasn't happy about this, though she never complained. She did try and take over the proceedings on a few occasions. She also paid me many compliments, as did others, on the good job I was doing.

The best compliment, however, came from the pants lady. After the first couple of days, at the end of the day, she said, "When you get home, you call your mother...your father...and you tell them you were worth every penny they spent to send you to college. Every penny!" She continued to tell me how intelligent and fair I was...I'm sure I blushed.

When I got home, I called my mother and I told her what the pants lady said. Mom said, "You were a bargain!"

I said, "I know! I wanted to tell her I paid for grad school myself, but I resisted."

More later....

Grateful for: meeting new people.