Today Freedom Trumped Friendship

There I was Thursday morning sitting in the huge waiting to be called onto a panel jury room. I sat in a room full of strangers none of whom wanted to be in that room. The energy there was not positive. Each of us had already been reduced to a four digit number. The weight of alienation rested heavy on my heart. Life bustled by on the streets below and I was not -- could not be -- part of it. Longing desperately to once again hear my name, I doubted my hearing when I actually did. Beyond belief, the smiling face of a friend subjected to the same fate filled my vision. When he sat down beside me, jury duty suddenly seemed far less onerous. Within minutes another friend joined us and like the tres amigos we spent the morning and the early afternoon sharing jokes. My first arrived friend and I were called into the same jury pool. We lost track of friend number three. For three days friend number one and I guarded brief cases for each other, held doors open, kept track of each other on crowded stair wells, shared stories, and lifted frequently sagging spirits. I was in the jury box. He sat waiting in the court room to take the place of thanked and excused candidates for the jury. The days numbed on until, beyond belief, my juror number was called and I was thanked and excused. Using all of my inner resources, I did not tap dance on my way out of the court room. I looked at my friend just long enough to mouth a 'bye' and left the court room. I didn't look back. I was free. He remained a slave to civic duty. I'm hoping he would not have looked back had our places and fortunes been reversed. Knowing him, however, he probably would have at least stopped in the doorway to give an encouraging smile. He's that kind of guy. And because he's that kind of a guy, I'm thinking that he will understand completely why I didn't.
Free at last. Thank God I'm free at last.