I arrived early (about half an hour earlier than the time they specified), but I realized there was little advantage to my mild obsession with timeliness (I had to wait (and wait) for the last people to arrive and be processed, before anything else happened.) So, what was the point?
I listened to a pleasant judge tell us about the virtues of citizenship and serving (the speech was actually a good idea, I thought), and I watched a team of grunts move a large group of people through a system the group mostly doesn't give a damn about. I mean, we care--just not a lot. Why should we?
Speaking from my current incarnation as courtesy clerk extraordinaire, I do not have much exposure to resistance. After all, if you're in a grocery store, you know what you want, and how much you're willing to give to get same. Occasionally, we get people who rarely or never shop (and you know who you are) or morons. We deal, but if you think you're going to get something extra or for nothing, or better service by doing the moron dance--guess again. Your peer group is not stupid, and using that as a starting point is like pissing in the wind--perhaps a mildly interesting experiment but not very useful.
The people I admire, however, are the grunts mentioned above. They are the ones who have to supply bodies for the jury trial system from a pool of unmotivated juror people. So, kudos to them. I guess this might be just another day at the farm for them, but I was pleasantly surprised.
