Good Citizenship

My father and my uncle, both veterans in their own right (though not those who faced the fears of war), always seem to irk me when they speak of jury duty. My father talks about the distant relatives he has in the police force, which he can rattle off to third cousins I never recall meeting, which hopefully imply he has a bias toward trusting cops. My uncle, on the other hand, brags about his smarter comments to the questions he's been asked over the years, and if the wit is not enough to excuse he can be quick to bring up that he is hard of hearing (which I suppose is legitimate, but seems a last-resort crutch in these instances. I've also met other men in my experience who mention their own "personal objections" and "spiritual hardships"in trying certain cases, most of which seem to be convenient lies the way they they braggadociously bring it up with a glint in their eye or a dry-washing of the hands.

On some level, admittedly, I think I find it sickens me, but maybe this is only because it is a measure of poor citizenship on their part. We all have a duty to God as we do to ourselves, and between those two comes country. These lines were instilled in me in Scouting at an early age, and when I see contradictions in them I am easy to upset. I think that most of it stems from the fact that I am not a fit man, and obesity prevented me from joining up with the military. Service on a jury, then, is one of very few ways that I, as a citizen, can give back to the country that I love. People are so selfish when they try to make a country that only serves themselves; Democracy is a higher power that also deserves its homage and our own humility. That is how and why I serve.