I’ve seen layoffs and had to fire people. I’ve witnessed a loved one battle cancer. A friend of mine’s son has gone through 3 brain surgeries. Yet I’ve never seen people express so much pain and outrage as those asked to serve 5 days of jury duty. Thursday I was called to serve on a civil trial. It sounded interesting. I would have been happy to serve. Inconvenienced? Yes. But happy to serve. Hey, variety is the spice of life. I think sitting on a trial would have been fascinating. It was a medical malpractice suit. Healthcare is a hot topic. Sounds great to me.

I was dismissed (probably due to my upcoming travel schedule to deliver keynotes in Las Vegas and Miami). Now before you say that it’s easy for me to say I wanted to serve when I was dismissed, know this. The last time I was called for jury duty I did serve. Happily. For 30 days. And it was fascinating.

I didn’t lose my job or my family. I don’t look back now, 9 years later, and trace a string of life tragedies or career setbacks to that unfortunate turn of events.

But this week I saw people whine and complain. I saw some lie shamelessly, and really poorly I might add. You would have thought that those selected were going in front of a firing squad. They weren’t. They were just going to (have to/get to) serve jury duty.

There’s a broader lesson here. What do you tell yourself you have to do? I have to go to work. I have to take the car in. I have to pick up my kids. In fact, you get to do all of those things. If you’re lucky, you even get to serve on jury duty.