More and more it seems to me that Americans are displaying an unusually high level of stupidity. I'm not sure whether it is the political correctness of our times which has made our own language foreign to us, but it certainly seems like the term 'plain English' is now obsolete.
Not long ago I was called to jury duty. In the assembly room, first the judge, then members of the court spoke to us, explaining the protocols and procedures involved in serving and giving us instructions on how to fill out paper work.
Invariably, when asked if there were any questions, someone would raise a hand to ask about something that had just been explained. The questions had nothing to do with seeking clarification, but were asked as if the subject had not been touched. What was even more amazing is that sometimes there would be a second or even third of the same question.
This is not the first time I have noticed this. When I attended a foster-parenting class a few months ago, I noticed the exact same phenomenon, and I have noticed it in a number of other situations.
The reason it bothers me so much is these people who are asking these stupid questions, who show either no understanding of the language (and I am not talking about people whose first language is not English) or really poor listening skills, are being asked to perform duties which to my mind demands a very firm grasp of the language.
If a juror cannot understand where to sign his or her name of a form where it is clearly indicated, how is this person going to understand what it is a judge is asking him/her to do when it comes to weighing a verdict?
While attending the foster-parenting class, I kept wondering how these people who did not seem to understand the most basic instructions - turn to page ten, pull out handout X - were going to be capable of making important decisions, or answering difficult questions on behalf of children, sometimes innocent, sometimes seriously victimized. How were they going to understand what either a judge, probation officer, social worker, teacher or even the child's parent asked of them, if then could not understand how to turn to page ten of a book placed right in front of them?
It seems to me that citizenship should not be the the most important qualification for being asked to serve on a jury, or for performing any other kind of service where someone else's fate is at stake. There should be some kind of test to determine the extent to which potential jurors, for example, actually understand the language in which the trial will be conducted and the questions on which they will deliberate will be asked. Only then can we truly say that the defendant received a fair trial.
But that is just my opinion.
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