A Jury Of Peers

I spent Tuesday in a room full of strangers who are my peers. I am on jury duty and this room full of people was the jury pool. It was an interesting place to people watch. The first person to catch my eye was a middle-aged man in a power suit. He was obviously too busy to be there. He had his leather briefcase open with papers all around him, looking very important. Just down the row from power man was a young black man with a head full of dreadlocks dressed in dirty jeans and sweatshirt. He slept. In the corner there were two blue-haired ladies chatting happily. The lady sitting near me was reading a book called, “Chaos,” with another book called the “Science of Chance” on her lap. She looked like a nerdy college professor. The man next to me was wearing a baseball cap and football jersey. He looked very bored. I offered him my morning paper, which he happily accepted. I was not surprised to see that he picked up the sports section first. Towards the front of the room I noticed a young, pregnant girl. She didn’t look old enough to either be pregnant or to be on a jury. She looked very uncomfortable. The people gathered there were young and old, black and white, male and female, wealthy and poor. But for that day in the jury lounge we were all equal as we waited to be either chosen or rejected.