Court is in session, but not for me

On my first day of jury duty Monday I never made it out of the general pool.  Seven or eight times the commissioner called up groups of forty people to go to courtrooms where they would be narrowed down to actual twelve-member juries, but my name never got called.  The highlight of this mostly-boring day was when I spotted one Dave Wottle among my fellow juror candidates.  Mr. Wottle was the 1972 Olympic champion in the 800-meter run, a moment preserved in this video:



I'm a little too young to remember the 1972 Games, but I've known Mr. Wottle's story for a long time because he lives right here in Memphis, where he's been the dean of admissions at Rhodes College for the last 35 or 40 years.  He came and spoke at my school when I was in the eleventh grade.  I realized he was in the jury pool when his name got called to be a grand jury alternate, and I managed to chat with him for a minute before he was whisked away to his duties.  He seemed very nice and genuinely appreciative of this fan's acknowledgement.

I wasn't required to report until 9:30 yesterday morning, and I got up early enough to get in a quick round of the strength routine.  Having defied the odds on Monday I figured things would trend back toward the mean yesterday, and sure enough my name got called among the first group of forty.  Now I was a little worried that I'd be seated on the jury for a trial that wouldn't start until the afternoon, and I'd be tied up for the rest of the week.  But that worry came to an abrupt end when I didn't survive the peremptory challenges.  One of the lawyers must not have liked the cut of my jib.  Or, as my mother remarked later, one of the lawyers didn't think I would be suitably biased in favor of his client.

The bailiff informed me that I was excused from jury duty for the next ten years, and just like that my time was my own once more.  I was largely relieved, but there was a hint of disappointment: the right to a trial by a jury of one's peers is as precious as any right we enjoy in this nation, and there's a certain satisfaction in serving on a jury now and then.  I suppose I will have more chances.

I went home and had some lunch, and went down to the river a little bit later.  I almost never feel as keen to paddle in the afternoon as I do in the morning, but after a good long warmup I eventually found a groove.  By paddling yesterday I managed to stay on my regular schedule for the week in spite of the jury duty.