An Uplifting Experience

For the past week-and-a-half I've been on Jury Service at Nottingham Crown Court. Of course, I'm unable to reveal any details of the various cases and people that I've encountered during this sojourn, but I can report on my impressions of the general experience. When you're summoned to appear for Jury Service, you have little opportunity to refuse. There are some instances when your allotted stint can be postponed, but in most circumstances it is a legal requirement to attend the court when instructed. However, turning up on the day does not guarantee that you will be selected to serve on a jury – they always call more people than they need (presumably in case of illness, inappropriate conduct, prior knowledge of someone/something involved etc.) and so it becomes a bit of a lottery as to who is selected for the cases being heard.

Because of this, about a hundred people are herded into the 'Jury Suite' to await being selected for a trial. The result from this is that there is a great deal of hanging around, sometimes for extended periods. The whole process then becomes a bit like sitting in an airport lounge waiting for your delayed flight to be announced. People sprawl around on chairs and sofas drinking endless cups of coffee, absorbed for a time in the perfunctory reading of books and magazines, chatting idly to total strangers in that unique way we British have when faced with collective discomfort and inconvenience. There's a kind of 'air-raid' spirit amongst the people, which we often engender when we are trapped in an enclosed space for an indeterminate length of time.

Except for the fact that there is one major difference. The staff members in the Jury Suite are as different from airport staff as a cat is to a dog. Whereas airport staff are mainly condescending, officious, arrogant, uncommunicative, unhelpful and downright unfriendly, the Jury Suite staff are sociable, affable, helpful and very open. They give continuous updates of information coming from the courts, they address everyone by name, they offer abundant and genuine apologies for the inconvenience caused, and they do it all with good humour and sympathy.

The two scenarios are quite similar: A group of people is trapped in an alien environment; its freedom of movement is restricted; it is a captive audience. The information available is often vague and inconclusive; an eventual end to the group's waiting is determined sometimes by chance, sometimes by circumstances being controlled by unseen forces elsewhere. Yet the brusque and secretive manner in which airport staff usually handle such groups is replaced in the Jury Suite by a spirit of cooperation and consideration that makes the somewhat tedious hours of waiting seem almost a pleasure.

Now, what I would like to know is this: Who trains these two disparate teams of people? What attitudes are ingrained within them which results in two totally different types of treatment? If a beleaguered Courts system can manage to instil an aptitude of genuine customer service in its staff, why can't those pompous twats who run our airports do the same?

I think we should be told.