Rolling the Dice

I'm not always a practioner of risky behavior, but I am sometimes a risk taker. This week it paid off; I didn't cancel my appointments, even with my jury duty summons looming, and it turned out I wasn't needed for jury duty after all. I am glad I could get my hair cut yesterday and make it to my dental appointment (which I made two months ago), but I'm a little disappointed not to have the chance to perform my civic duty. My son says I should be glad. He served on a case a few years ago involving sexual assault and said it was awful. I mean, the case itself was awful, of course, but he also noted the conflict among jury members as being quite unpleasant. "But I'm a great peacemaker and diplomat," I told him. "I'd be good at it!" He shrugged and muttered a noncommittal, "Maybe."

I truly don't like conflict and confrontation, but I am good at deflecting and diffusing it. Even my brother, who isn't quick to pay me a compliment, says this is one of the traits in me he admires -- and envies. Maybe I'm stereotyping, but as an engineer he is not always aware of the impact that his words and tone have on others. (I've known many engineers -- was married to one for a while -- and most of them have had this challenge. I'm not saying it's always true, but it seems that people who are good with "things" aren't so great with other people.) Maybe someday I'll have the chance to put those skills to use in a jury room. But not this week.