I recently completed jury duty, and it was interesting watching people follow directions, or maybe I should say not follow directions. Jury duty begins when you arrive at the court house and are assigned a number. At 8:30am a court officer greets the awaiting jurors and shows a video. On my day of service after a welcome from the judge, the court officer announced that everyone with numbers 1-85 should go to the Adam’s Room. (not the real name) Everyone else was told they had a break until 10am. It was amazing to watch the confusion that ensued. Almost everyone in the room got up from his or her seat. Me and the guy next to me looked at each other as if to confirm what the officer had said which was 1-85 stay in this room.
Why was there so much confusion? Many people although listening were probably not using good listening skills and retaining important details that they might need later, like the name of the room. Secondly the court officer named the room once in the beginning, but he should have restated the name of the room when he gave the direction or said, “ Everyone with numbers 1-85 please remain in this room.” When people went to follow the directions…..Well they felt confusion because they did not remember. As adults we sometimes have to follow oral directions, such as the type given during jury duty, and certainly students follow directions all day. Learning to follow directions is an important skill everyone needs for his or her lifetime.