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Jury Duty II
Monday, July 6, 1998 Today was the second day of jury duty for me. I drove back down to Kent, taking the route my sister does when she drives to work. I even drove down Martin Luther King Way as she does, bypassing the new freeway construction project that started this morning. We waited in the jury room, all forty of us who had already served one day, until after lunch. We were finally called for over the loudspeaker. Of course, we were asked to line up by number, and I certainly did not remember that I was number 15! So I had to ask Betty the Bailiff. Up we went to the fourth floor, and the first fourteen sat in the jury box. The rest of us were in the spectator benches (they aren't pews if they aren't in a church, are they?. Each of us had a placard with our juror number on it. More waiting, now in complete silence. I just had pulled my book out of my bag when the call went out: "All rise!" The judge came in, greeted us, and swore us in. He gave us some general information about the case, then described the particular voir dire process we would go through as being "Oprah/Donahue style." (I'm glad it wasn't Jerry Springer style!) He would address questions to all the jurors at once, and we should hold up our number if the answer was yes. But first, we should all go around the room and introduce ourselves, telling where we live, what we do, what any other adults in our households do, and what we do for fun. When it was my turn, I described Cacophony as a weird group I belong to, which got a big laugh. The judge asked the questions on behalf of the attorneys. Did any of us know any of a long list of prospective witnesses? Did we have strong opinions about certain kinds of lawsuits? (The case was a civil suit, not a criminal trial.) It was almost the end of the day, our scheduled time to leave, when the last question came -- the most shocking question of all! Most trials last only a few days. The attorneys and judge estimated that this trial would last until July 22! Oh, would that present any severe hardship or problem for anyone? My heart sank. I really hadn't envisioned such a lengthy trial! So I raised my placard high at this last question. We went around the room and stated our reasons for wanting to be excused. I said we were trying to ship a product! True, we have a large team, but no one else is currently doing the tasks that are assigned to me. The judge said we were to come back tomorrow morning to find out his decision in each case. I really don't want to figure out how to get some hours in at work, while being at jury duty four days a week!
I drove back to town via a different route, since I wanted to stop at Southcenter Mall. I was fairly sure that there was a Body Shop there, and I wanted to get some of their special Peppermint Foot Lotion for Nancy, who is leaving town this week and celebrating her birthday tonight and tomorrow. I think it was Carli or Kymm or Karma who talked up this lotion, so I knew it was good. Sure enough, there was an edition of the Body Shop there, so I bought small sizes of Foot Lotion, Leg Gel, and Foot Spray, and a small zip bag to put them in. I drifted through Nordstrom's on the way back to the car, and succumbed to some Mei-Fa hair sticks, chopstick-like tools to secure one's hair in a chignon or French twist. I am a sucker for hair ornaments!
After some time at home, I took the bus downtown to go dancing at the Fenix. I wore my hair up with my new hair sticks, but carried a more normal clip in my bag as a backup. It was hot, crowded and smokey in the club, both upstairs and down, but dancing wasn't my main priority tonight. I wanted to give Nancy her gift and arrange a birthday Jam dance for her, if possible. Any dancing would be a bonus! We finally did get the birthday dance going, at about 12:30 AM. This means that we all gather in a circle, the birthday person in the center, then various friends join the birthday person and partner zir for a chorus or two. Fun! Nancy liked her present, too. I told her to think of us here in Seattle, when her feet hurt in San Francisco. I did get a few good dances in towards the end of the evening, with Chris Chapman and Joe Ross. I was beat! and I'd stayed past the last bus, so I asked my buddy Sterling for a ride home. It was his first night at the Fenix, and I was able to introduce him to Nancy and Joanie. They thanked me! He is a great dancer, extremely cute, and very gentlemanly! What more could we wish for?
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