The Great Leveler

For the last couple days I’ve been on jury duty. For those not in the states, that’s when we go into a large room at the courthouse to be possibly picked to impartially decide a case before the court.

It’s a fantastic civic moment because all kinds of people are there to serve. And I mean all kinds. These people would never be brought together under any other circumstance, and they come alone, without family or friends. It puts all the people in that room on an equal footing. I can’t think of too many other social situations like it.

In the space where they ask for your profession I usually write “avant-garde composer.” I like to imagine the conversation that will ensue when council gets to you in the panel and has to ask you what you do every day in your line of work as an avant-garde composer. So far no one has asked.