A friend recently commented on his initial wait for possible jury duty:
As I write this, I am sitting at the D.C. Courthouse waiting to find out if I’ll be selected for jury duty. Many of you have been where I am, and likewise many of you remember the video that is played to prepare potential jurists for voir dire and a case: Jury Duty: Call to Serve!
It’s dramatic (over-dramatic?), and a bit of a strange juxtaposition. While we’re being told that the fate of democracy rests in our hands (!)—I’m really just sitting in a large room with people scattered around doing their work or reading, but mostly just waiting around. And it’s easy to dismiss the video—getting called up for jury duty feels like a distraction and not all that important, if waiting around seems to be our main job. . .
So, for the next few hours at least, I will try to bring a different perspective to jury duty. I will attempt to wait patiently and attentively, hoping for my time to serve, all while knowing that the work is critical, and much bigger than one person. Perhaps as I wait, I’ll learn something about duty as well.
The Duty of a Credit Union Member
Is there an analogy for the member-owner of a credit union? Could it be to “serve” by attending and voting for their leaders at the Annual Meeting? If we only ask and expect our members to use products, have we really helped members understand the cooperative principle that the “fate of democracy rests in our hands”? Is your Notice of the Members’ Annual Meeting a call to duty?