The Call of Duty

I am pretty sure I am the only person in the world that actually enjoys being called for jury duty. I'm not even joking. I love it. I act all annoyed and stuff, but secretly, I am squealing with delight on the inside. It's like I won the lottery--they picked me, me, me! I realize that 99.9% of the rest of the population looks at jury duty as a burden, an annoyance, something they are forced to do, but, not me. I think it is so wonderful that in this country we are allowed to see, first hand, how our justice system works. Not only that, but we are called to be a part of it!

Now, before you stop reading because you think I am just completely insane, allow me to explain myself. Along with loving our system, I also have some pretty selfish reasons for loving jury duty. First of all, it gives me a break from the Goombas. There are not many things that I can do that allow me freedom of no children for a few hours. This is one of them. So, in my crazy way, I actually look at jury duty as a break from my normal life.

Along with getting to be a free mama for a day, I get to wallow in someone else's grief for a while. It is amazing how good you can feel about yourself when you are called to a jury where someone is defending himself for heinous crime. Ok, they are not always heinous crimes, but even a DUI can make me realize that, hey, things in my life could be worse.

Some other perks to the call of the justice system:

~I actually read about 30 uninterrupted pages in my book. That may not seem like much, but it has been a long time since I have read that many pages without having to put the book down 25 times to go help someone with something.

~I had adult conversations about something other than poop and snot and temper tantrums. It was lovely! I had a very nice chat about New York with the lady that sat next to me in the jury box. With no Goombas screaming in the background. I could actually hear what she was saying, and I didn't have to yell over the noise around me. I had almost forgotten what that is like.

~Because I am a total nerd, seeing how a trial really works was intriguing to me. I love the process. I love the politeness required of everyone..."Yes, Ma'am," "No, sir," "Thank you, Your Honor." It was a very nice change from "MMMMIIIIIIILLLKKK, NNNNOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!"

~I actually had something interesting to tell Bowser about after the Goombas went to bed. Usually, I hear about his day at work and all the problems he gets to solve. I usually tell him about how Luigi finished a new puzzle, Mario whined about homework, and Peach begged for Aladdin for the 500th time of the day. Yesterday, I was the one with the cool story.

So, yes, I guess I am officially a weirdo, but I enjoyed doing my civic duty to my country yesterday. I was on a fascinating case involving a DUI, driving with a revoked license and weaving in traffic. With no hard evidence of intoxication. It was very thought provoking and both sides made a strong case. And it was my own little vacation into adulthood for a day.

Cheers!
~Daisy

ps--Thank you so much, Grandma Bowser, for hanging with the Goombas all day! And, for cleaning the toy room...that was a wonderful surprise! You rock!