Don't Ask Me Where We Met. Tell Me.

It's the opposite of what I think it will be.

I kinda loved my morning at Jury Duty.

I'll save you all the details of the cool conversation I had with the dude next to me from Yonkers and the lady who made me laugh about putting more time on my parking meter- however, I promise you there are good stories there too.

I was only there from 8:30am - 12:30pm and now I'm clear for 6 years for serving. I missed my first assignment because I was out of the country and it just so happens that the second one fells the only 2 weeks I am in New York...

And this is what it was like:

Upon handing us our certificates of service, the judge looked at us.

His face was wrinkled and he walked hunched over.
His eyes, however, were deep and steady.

And they looked at each one of us as he spoke.
He moves his head, looking around the room, speaking directly at each one of us. And we can feel it.

And then, he points to me and makes a joke.
I blush.
"Am I flirting with him?" I ask myself in my mind.
I have a thing for older men.

He says we can go now. Our certificates are in his hand. But he says, lastly:

Just do me a favor. Tell your friends and family that jury duty is not about having a root canal. Tell them that it's not so bad. Remind yourselves that if you ever fall victim of a crime or need some help for whatever reason that you'd like a fair jury, too. 

And one last thing, 
"What's my name?" 

None of us know. Not one. No one answers.

He looks at us. Not with contempt. Not with anger. Just as a human being.
Actually, I feel a softness.

Right. He continues. Day after day I run into people on the streets. In the grocery story. And people stare at me. And they don't say hi. But here I am fearing that I threw them in jail at some point. It makes me a bit nervous.

So say Hi if you see me okay? Don't ask me 'how do I know you? where did we meet?'. 
Tell me. 

And he walks out.
Before he does, he glances over at me again. Or maybe its the dude next to me from Yonkers.

I smile.
Again blushing.

But also with such a deep feeling in my heart.

I really don't know what life is about. I am learning that more and more. I realize that we don't know anything at all.

That is- when we try to explain it- we cannot.
Life is not words.

Life cannot be captured in spoken or written words.

Same goes for

Peace
Love
Happiness

These are all experiences. These are feelings.

The smell of an orange. The cuddle of a dog. The sunrise.

We know it. Because we feel it.
But we cannot explain it.

No words can explain or capture the essence of these things.
Yet, we try to do so. And in doing so, it is lost. Because it is different for each of us. Yet we all know and share that feeling.

I guess this is what happens in the "real" world.
We see a judge before us and we think that he is a judge.

We forget that he is a human being. We forget that he is just another vehicle of love- who wants to make us smile by handing us a certificate, so that we can go home to our loved ones, our dog, our couch, or wherever it is that we think we would prefer to be instead of serving someone else in their hardship (aka jury duty).

We forget that he is just like us.

Underneath the gown.
Beneath the wrinkles.

He's just another human being who likes to laugh. And smile. And share with people.

I really liked jury duty yesterday morning.
I thought about it all day long.

Things aren't always what you think they will be.
And people aren't always who you think they are.