I was on a jury in DC once! It was crazy complicated, and ended up a hung jury. Which I was fine with in one part (we were 9-3 that the guy was innocent) but NSM on the other (11-1 he was guilty)

I was on a jury once in Durham, NC. On one hand, classism and racism ran rampant. On the other hand, we were able to make classism work against the racism. Um, yay?

A woman was accused of shoplifting. The video tape evidence clearly showed that she was innocent. The woman was African American. Two white jurors spent an hour trying to convince the rest of us that we should convict her anyway, because, "she just looks guilty! Look at her attitude!" The defendant looked unimpressed by the proceedings, probably because she was an innocent woman dragged into court for no good reason. But by the two jurors' reasoning, anyone (at least, anyone of color) who wasn't quailing before the might of the (white) judge, (white) prosecuting attorney, and (mostly white) jury must be a total reprobate.

Anyway, the rest of us came back with, "We're not buying your argument, but we can come back tomorrow to hash it out further if you'd like." The rest of us were salaried and would be paid regardless. The two hold-outs were not, and said they were losing money with every hour they were stuck in court. So basically we applied socioeconomic pressure to make them give in. And I'd do it again, because To Kill a Mockingbird-style racism shouldn't triumph. But it seemed like a poor way to determine someone's legal status. "We have a more secure income flow than you do, so our opinions will win" is not how juries should work. On the other hand, we were right. So, as I said, yay.

"We have a more secure income flow than you do, so our opinions will win" is not how juries should work. On the other hand, we were right. So, as I said, yay.

Ugh. I'd hold onto the fact that she was innocent, but that can't have been pleasant.

Sara was in tears again this morning. It's heartbreaking. We figured out part of what's freaking her out is her school is a 70s-style open plan, without doors and walls, and finding her way around has to be a little weird. Until she gets used to it, though, my sunny, fearless kid panicking and sobbing every morning is killing me.

Poor Sara. Open plan schools freak me out too, frankly.

Noah starts full days at preschool today. Oof. Let the scheduling nightmare begin!

To make matters more exciting in our house, I have a sore throat AND I have full day meetings today and tomorrow followed by a neuro appt for Grace on Thursday.

Good luck with preschool, Kat!

Amy, that breaks my heart. I hope she can get used to the new setting quickly.

Guess who found out that Liv is allergic to penicillin? The hard way at 5 a.m. She broke out in a horrible, itchy rash all over her body. I'm on hold with her ped right now. I want to go back to sleep.

Poor Sara and Liv and their moms.

Yikes, Cash. Try Benadryl for now?

Good luck to Noah (and Kat!) with preschool!

I hate that rash! Annoying.

You know what I'm not in the mood for today? Work. I know, right??

what Jesse said.

Dosed her with Benadryl and she's sleeping. I've cancelled everything I was scheduled for today and I'm going to go take a nap, too. DH will pick up the new script later today.