Cook County Rocks!

So for the first time in 6 years I started thinking seriously about getting a job.
And then one landed in my lap!
Jury duty!

I couldn't have been the only person in that jury pool holding pen on the second floor of the Criminal Courts building on 26th St. to desperately want this gig. I was the model juror. "Hobbies? I'm reading Abe Lincoln's biography and I teach CCD." I assumed I would get picked, have a front row seat to a sensational trial, then write a best seller about it and retire.

I did get picked, I stayed a week and the case was a bore.

But it was an adventure, down to the awful food (same menu as the inmates next door? Because I typically don't mind industrial food) and the teeny tiny room with loads of dead bugs stuck in the florescent lights to which we were quarantined. Magazines in our jury room were from 2000.
We were advised not to use the 2 (!) water coolers in our room. I walked up the same set of stairs every day, and stepped over the same Dunkin' Donuts cup and cigarette butt 4 days in a row.
As a group, we were all herded by the deputy (nicely, but still) into the elevator, into the jury dining room, out the front door at night.

True to random selection, we had a diverse and friendly group.

At the end...I know this is corny, but I think we all had the satisfaction of having made the right decision. We deliberated for about and hour and a half. After the verdict was read the judge came in to speak with us and complimented us all for being a "good jury."

So now I'm going to get a real job.