Life is Sometimes Like Being on Jury Duty in a Never-Ending Trial

The current televised murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin over the death-in-custody of black resident George Floyd last April has brought back memories of the times I was drafted into jury duty over the past few years.  I detest serving on juries so much that I studiously avoid watching these public trials and always avoid those annoying "Judge Bozo" types of programs...heck, I won't even watch Perry Mason!  I never was on a jury detail when either my workplace or the court's clerical staff didn't make my jury duty documentation difficult for me to return to work afterwards...so many times have I sat there in the courtroom or stood outside in the hallway in a state of anxiety wondering if I was getting into trouble for doing something I was required by law to do...instead of actually paying my full attention to the proceedings.  The uncertainty and open-endedness involved in jury selection is very problematic as well...I go there with no clue as to what my future will be for the rest of the week and possibly further on.  The attorneys arguing both sides of the case in question never cease to irritate me with their self-importance...they remind me of an old classmate of mine in high school who used his debate skills to intimidate others (including me).  And I have never to date deliberated as a juror on a case in which there was an obvious witness or crucial piece of evidence that wasn't deliberately withheld from the jurors' consideration...so as a result the verdict probably didn't reflect what the judge, lawyers, defendant and probably a few witnesses actually knew to be true about the case.  Also, in every jury experience I've had there was always a pain-in-the-ass fellow juror trying to prod everyone else into giving a quick verdict...as if the rest of us had nowhere else we'd rather be.  But even though it's been more than two years since I was last subjected to this humiliation, I have noticed that in some ways just going through my day-to-day experiences in life mirrors some things about serving on juries.  I don't think there is a social institution I've ever been involved with in which important information hasn't been withheld from me...yet I am held accountable nonetheless to exhibit proper judgment in my actions and speech.  The entire legal/law-enforcement environment prevalent in the courthouse is designed to humble people...just as so many other institutions seek to control people like herded sheep.  The behavior of the opposing attorneys toward witnesses, depending on whether they support or oppose their case, hits me hard: if a witness agrees with the questioning attorney then they are honest and decent...if they offer testimony running counter to the "agenda" then they are cast as liars and...well, maybe deluded or confused.  Isn't this how the hosts on TV opinion shows and talk radio treat people of different political persuasions?  So no, I'm not too keen on jury duty, and I'm more than a little cynical about the way our society seems to be structured to manipulate and control me in ways similar to being a drafted juror...then again I've always been pretty much a solitary type anyway and naturally suspicious of those trying to put their hooks in me...