This week’s Monday Mission
1. In the states, every citizen is expected to perform their civic duty and serve on a jury at some point. This week, I am on jury duty. Have you ever had to serve on a jury?
Nope. I have a feeling that most prosecutors wouldn’t like me anyway, as I’m fairly intelligent and not easy to sway.
2. If you were to ever serve on a jury, would you be able to give someone the death penalty?
No. I’m completely against the death penalty.
3. One thing that concerns me about jury duty is what my life would be like if I had to convict someone. I’d always be worried about some sort of retaliation from the convict, or their family. Has fear of negative consequences ever kept you from reporting a crime or voicing your opinion?
Nope. Well, maybe in school. I went to a fairly conservative high school and there were times when I kept my mouth shut because I didn’t want to piss off the right-wingers around me.
4. When it comes to convictions, I’ve never even been convicted of speeding (accued yes, but heh, never convicted). Have you ever been accused of or convicted for breaking any laws? What’s the real story there?
I got a speeding ticket once, that’s about it. I was speeding. It sucked, but the cop was very nice.
5. It looks like I will have a lot of time on my hands this week in the jury pool. I may get called, I may not. If not, I go back tomorrow. Rinse, wash, repeat. How would you pass the time if you had to sit and wait around from 8am-5pm for 5 days?
Reading. Lots and lots of reading.
6. One thing I do like about this “civic duty” is that it will be at the downtown courthouse. I LOVE downtown. There is just so much life there. What part of your town is your favorite to visit? Why? What makes it so special?
Hm… Milpitas doesn’t really have much to visit, honestly. But there’s some cool stuff in San Jose! The Winchester Mystery House, for one thing.
7. I’m not that outgoing around strangers, so I doubt I will be meeting many new people this week. Do you have any problems striking up a conversation with someone you don’t know? Have chance encounters with strangers ever led to interesting new relationships or opportunities?
I am sometimes shy around people I don’t know, but if I find out we have something in common I am set. Chance encounters… Um… well, I think I can easily say that happening to meet Antwon at a blogger meetup has led to interesting stuff. I know way more people in and around Santa Cruz now than I used to, and am the proud owner of a Titanium Spork, too. Hurrah! Plus there’s all the folks I’ve met through NaNoWriMo and through various email groups and whatnot.
