"So, you can't serve because they can't do without you at work?" "Not really Judge but I don't want them to know that they can!"

My jury duty excursion did not result in me being chosen to be on a panel to see if I might be chosen for a jury but that didn’t keep me from having a good experience. These tiring and tedious tidbits are the tiny things that torture my troubled thinking on this Tuesday, May 12, 2009. Having run out of ‘T’s’, I now return to yesterday’s happenings. Going in I saw a fellow member of our local fellowship of believers there in the jury pool meeting place where some two hundred folks were awaiting their fate. I visited with him for a few minutes and then found me a quiet place near the front so I could do some Bible study and write out some notes for next week’s lesson. I also saw a down-the-street neighbor but he was way across the room so I didn’t get to speak to him. In a few minutes a rather large fellow sat down beside me and after about fifteen minutes of him fidgeting forth and back he leaned over and asked, “Hey, are you originally from Texas?” My response, “Not really but I’ve been implanted here from Louisiana since 1969.”

We then struck up a non-stop conversation and for the next thirty minutes we jawed on all kinds of subjects, thoughts, and ideas. He is a postal carrier who has been delivering mail for twenty-four years. His only contact with Louisiana had been a fishing trip launched from down below New Orleans a few years ago. I explained to him the distinct differences you find between the south, middle, and northern parts of Louisiana. He seemed surprised to learn that my home area of Louisiana was a completely different world than that found in the Cajun oriented atmosphere down south. We talked about hurricanes, emergency response, government services like mail, and his personal situation in terms of how the whole system has evolved. We then moved on to politics, our country, and the direction we are headed in.

He was a big dude and had a wonderful laugh and whenever I would say something (almost anything) he had this unique (and somewhat irritating) comeback, “Right! Right!” I have this really bad habit of imitating people’s quirks when I am with them. I sometimes do it without even thinking. If they do their eyes funny I might flash some funny eyes back to them. If they tilt their head a certain way or have a noticeable twitch I can easily echo these if I don’t restrain myself. I never gave him my own version of the “Right! Right!” feedback because I had showed up with my ‘A’ game that day and was able to exercise a little better control. I can remember a time or two when I have done this involuntary mimicry and the other person was not amused at all. They immediately thought I was making fun of them. I suppose they had never heard how that imitation is the highest form of flattery. I can’t say I learned anything that was new unless it was finding out how messed up the postal system is, as if I had never guessed or heard about it before! I am an introvert, he was obviously an extrovert, yet, we were able to meet, have an animated conversation, share a number of laughs, and then wave as we parted company having never introduced ourselves to each other. All and all, I did my duty and while I didn’t get selected to be on a prospective panel I did enjoy a good time of interaction and left with this thought ringing in my ears: “Right! Right!” I never told anyone it was easy being me but it’s the only me I can be. See you next time and don’t forget to pray for our nation. Amen. …..More later.