On Monday my one month service on Grand Jury for the great city of New York came to an end. All in all, I had bitter sweet sentiments as I was leaving. I'm happy I don't have to shuffle back and forth from Lower Manhattan to Midtown, then working overtime to catch up on what I missed, but the experience is one that I'm glad I had. I'm not good with change or leaving people, so when my co-worker jokingly asked me if I cried when I said good-bye to the other jurors he wasn't so far off. I seriously felt pangs of sadness and tears scratching the surface. When you spend three hours of your day for twenty days on end, learning about one another's day jobs and families on our down time, arguing over various views and interpretations of the presented stories, listening to disturbing cases, and watching crying witnesses, you are bound to become somewhat attached to those you share the experience with. With that here is my list of things I will miss, and things I will most certainly not:
Things I'll miss as much as I miss laying out in Sheep's Meadow with Pinkberry in hand:
- The entertainment of inexperienced DA's.
- Mike's morning greeting and more importantly call for 11am break time.
- The 18 year old next to me who was paid $40 a day to catch up on sleep.
- Our amazing foreperson who reminds me of my Grandma, who I love.
- The restaurateur yelling at his employees.
- Playing the "that witness/DA/juror looks like..." game. We had Dilbert, Alan Ruck, Valerie from the Princess Bride, etc.
- My new friend and fellow Hoosier.
- Seeing all the couples going to City Hall to get hitched.
Things I'll miss as much as trekking through two feet of slush:
- The stupidity of inexperienced DA's
- Jurors 1, 4, 7, and 17. I had about enough of all three of your stupid questions.
- Listening to heartbreaking stories from victims.
- Duane Reade cases, note to all - don't try and pull a fast one on them, they will prosecute you.
- Listening to thirty minutes of the dictation of stolen check numbers and amounts.
- Listening to two hours of seventy charges of shoplifting.
- Going through security every morning - Yes people, change in your pockets will ALWAYS set off the metal detectors.
Without going into any detail, we heard offenses ranging from metro card tampering, robbery, assault, drug possession and sales, child pornography, and murder. You name it - we ruled on it. I learned so much over the past month and I wouldn't take it back for one second. Though I've become a more cautious and weary about what lurks behind every corner, I feel a little bit more connected to NYC. Now my duty is done. See you in eight years!
