[Reprint from August 19, 2021]
This a short story today, it is very anticlimactic.
A few years after I transitioned I got a summons for jury duty, being retired I had no problem with it as a matter of fact I looked forward to it.
One, I wanted to see how they handle a trans juror.
Two, being retired it was a good excuse to get out of the house and do something different.
And three, I had been on juries before and it was like a live soap opera. I wouldn’t want a murder trial but a nice fender bender sure why not.
So the night before I called the phone number of the court house and it was a “go” for the next day and I laid out my clothes for the next; slacks, blouse, and low heel pumps with knee highs.
I showed up at where you sign-in, the bored clerk looked asked me my name, checked me off on the list, and handed me a pamphlet. She said that we couldn’t listen to the radio because it might have something about the trial, and she asked me if I had any reading material related to the trial, I said no unless we are on the planet Darkover.
I walked in to the room marked “Jury Waiting Room” as I walked in the room people looked up at me and then went back to what they were doing. To one side was a row of vending machines and on the other side approved reading material.
I got a vending machine coffee… Mmm, and a day old New York Times and sat at a table with an open seat. We each had a yellow sticker marked “Juror.”
The bored clerk from the check-in desk called us to order and showed a video of some bored judge telling us how important juror duty was. One by one we went into to be drilled by the attorneys for the Voir dire... lunch… rushed out to a Burger King… back to our very own waiting room.
The bored clerk put on the movie “The Help” for those who wanted to watch. I was reading my book, but the movie kept on calling me. I would glance up now and then, but I started to get into the movie.
The bored clerk came out and said that the case was settled, and we can go home now. She then turned off the TV. One juror said that she wanted to see the end of the movie, we all chimed in… Yeah, it is almost over! The bored clerk shrugged and turned it back on and retreated to her office.
When I got home… off came the pumps and on came the slippers.
It was a totally uneventfull day. No stares. No comments. Being a trans juror was no different than when I was a cis gender juror.
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