Recently I was called to serve jury duty. When I went to my mailbox and saw the envelope addressed to me with the return address of “State of Connecticut Judicial Branch”,I was less than enthusiastic about the idea of sacrificing a day away from my normal everyday life. But with a deep sigh I realized that it was my civic duty as a citizen of this fine country to serve ….This is what makes our country great– democracy. It was my civic duty to answer this call by the Justice System. I wanted to set a good example and be a law abiding citizen. So I checked off the box that stated I would report on the specified date……
As I entered the court house with about 40 other potential jurors, I looked around at the “sampling” of individuals that were surrounding me. I found it interesting that the pooling of jurors is a true example of how the justice system works. We were all from different walks of life– and this was most apparent by the choice of reading material that we all chose to bring with us for the day: some of us had our novels(me? I had a thriller in my mitts), others had People Magazine/Pop Culture mags and some had the latest non fiction read. Old– young, you name it we were there. I sat there wondering what was going to happen next– However, there was this one individual, that thought he was too important to be sitting in this room with us. He kept complaining about how he was losing a fortune and that he should not have to put up with this #@!*(expletive). I was astonished at his lack of respect for our justice system or even just his lack of proprietorship towards his civic duty. I wanted to tug on his wet ponytail and say snap out of it. Stop being selfish and do your duty. Some day you made need a jury of your peers to get you out of a pickle–
Perhaps I should have had my knapsack full of literature from the Owl that I could have handed out to my grumbling peer:
Civic Arousal by Ralph Nader (324.6 NAD) ” Thinking about the pursuit of justice, which is the road to the pursuit of happiness, can become a pleasant experience. “Justice”, Senator Daniel Webster said some 160 years ago, is “the great work of man on earth.” (pg 7)
The Seventeen Traditions by Raph Nader (324.73 NAD) A more back to the basics of life and family book– “a reminder of a time when nature and community were central to the way we all learned and lived.”
America:The Last Best Hope by William J. Bennett(973 BEN)
It’s Getting Ugly Out There by Jack Cafferty (973.93 CAF)
America(the Book): Citizens’ Guide to Democracy Inaction by Jon Stewart(817.54 STE)
Or there are plenty of other ways we can give back to our community –
November 6th is Election Day– Get out and vote! There are fine people willing to serve your community and it is our responsibility to vote. Did you know the OWL has voter registration forms located the desk? We will even hand deliver them to the town clerk! or you can Rock the Vote online-
November 11th is Veteran’s Day- shake a veterans’ hand , look him/her in the eyes and say Thank You. Or give a quiet prayer to those that have lost their lives or for those that have sacrificed a loved one for us to live in freedom.
Want some inspirational patriotic music? We have that too!
America the Beautiful by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD AMERICAN MOR
Or a movie perhaps?
Our Constitution DVD HISTORY OUR
Well, I guess my knapsack would be overflowing! So enough is enough– check out these and many more fine patriotic materials at the OWL!
This entry is written by your friendly neighborhood librarian assistant, Audra
P.S. at the close of this entry– The Red Sox are World Series Champions 2007
