*****************
First: There was never a fart jar, (see last posting). This is creative writing…I take artistic license.
*****************
Jury Duty.
I left the house at 7:10AM and caught the Hopkins Shuttle at 33rd and St. Paul. I took my work I.D. in case they check for that now, but they didn’t. The schedule and route are PDF’s anyone can get online and get a free ride downtown and back.
At the next stop a lady got on that likely was not a student. I glanced up as she chose to sit next to me. The bus rocked and rolled down St. Paul. When it came time to get off at Center Street, where it turns to go the main hospital, I said to her, “This is my stop”. She replied, “This is my stop, too”. and I took a double take…”Barbara”?
“Oh, she said, “I wondered if that was you when I sat down, but decided it wasn’t”.
I almost always have a hat or helmet on when she sees me, but I wasn’t wearing anything on my head. I have never seen her with a hat on before today, as she was bundled up from the cold We walked the 4 blocks to the courthouse talking about our neighborhood and how fun it was to have run into each other.
Jury duty breaks up the daily routine of; wake, get to work, do the work, go home. It is a chance to have a low-grade adventure, meet people you would never have the opportunity to meet, (run into a neighbor), eat lunch at a place you never have eaten before.
To top-off the trip, you get to “tour” one of Baltimore’s most grand and lovely buildings, the Clarence M. Mitchell Courthouse! I can not tell you how wonderful it is to be in this grand old “house”. Built in 1900 for the purpose it is still used for 108 years later. (There is a law museum inside. Stop by and see the grandeur for yourself).
What’s not to like?
Everyone seems to like people watching, right? You get that in spades!
It’s not all roses, however…I did smell some bad breath from the seat behind me in the court room. Also had to move from my seat in the jury room, because “Baby Huey,” with the think glasses and ragged sweat-shirt was smelling of pee…pee yew! I felt bad for the guy, but not any affection. He was comfortable around people with only half a clue what was going on. Not a full bag of marbles.
At the start of the day in the jury room they give you an orientation. Two years ago I walked all over the grand old building taking photos, while waiting to be a chose juror. This year they said, “No wandering the halls and photos are prohibited”. Well, it’s good I arrived to the courthouse 25 minutes early and took care of that.
At lunch time I walked 7 blocks to Mt. Vernon to a Thai/sushi place. I got a Bento Box served at the sushi bar. Best I can describe it as the lunch special. It came with a nice little salad. The sushi was very good. The bowl of chicken “something” was so damn spicy it made my eyes water and I was choking and coughing. I drew unwanted attention…the waitress asked if I was ok and I coughed my reply. Glad i did, i got a really nice bowl of chicken in a creamy yogurt curry.
Can’t remember the name of the place. It was under Donna’s at Madison and Charles.
Got picked for a jury with about 90 or 100 others and went to a beautiful marble court room. We all were spoken to by the judge with questions like; if we had anyone in our family on the police force; anyone in our family mugged; or if we had been arrested, among other questions.
After and two hours of waiting for each person to have a three-on-one with the judge and counsels to discuss the issues above, it was time to pick the 12 jurors plus 2 alternates. At this time there were about 50 jurors left in the court room.
They picked the jury they wanted before they got to me so I got to leave. A nice lady seated near me overheard me talking about where I lived and offered me ride home…sweet!
What’s not to like?