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A Call To Serve

Because of what I do in my field, there is a great demand for my services. My phone at the office rings nine to five nonstop. On top of that, clients walk into my office everyday all day with great expectations. I educate over and over about the product that they’ve invested in. Many times the client comes to trust me and longs for a relationship. An ongoing partnership, in which I come to be the sole individual that they trust to turn to in regards to their investment. Never mind the toll free line that connects them to our call centers worldwide and the hundreds of knowledgeable agents waiting to help them. Every workday I shuffle through the chaos that has come to define my life. Who am I, if not for my job? This company that I’ve worked for for more than eight years has treated me extremely well. And besides what else do I have to offer the world?

Last month I received a summons for Jury Duty. Upon reviewing the notice, I immediately felt distraught with worry. I had just taken time off to visit for a few days with family. And immediately prior to that, I attended a mandatory company meeting in Orlando. To me it seems I’ve been out of the office quite a bit lately and my work load has been piling up. People who feel that they need to speak with me and only me have been leaving some crazy messages on my voicemail. And yeah it did kind of hurt my feelings when I returned a call to a client and was told that she was disappointed in me because it took too long for me to call her back. She didn’t seem to care about my mandatory business trip and my small vacation time with my family that led to nearly one hundred voicemails waiting for me once I returned.

So Jury Duty. Wow. How in the world would I manage the office after that? I didn’t even want to inform my office mate that I would be away again for who knew how many days due to the guilt I felt for leaving her. But I had no choice in the matter and she was very supportive. Plus, I promised to check my email as often as possible, just in case she needed me. I still was a little anxious about the possibility of being picked. As my mother stated just a few weeks before, I do tend to stand out in a crowd. It may be my hair. It may be my height. I was afraid that for what ever reason, if I sat in on a criminal trial, then I could somehow put my life in danger. Basically I was being paranoid. Which you know happens sometimes when you think too much of yourself.
So I reported for duty on a Monday and I was selected to serve. By that Thursday the trial was over and I was the better for it. Sometimes we tend to get trapped in our own little worries and universes and often fail to notice the tragedies and triumphs of the world around us. I’ve had to endure quite a bit in this lifetime and I’ve overcome many obstacles but never have I had to feel the deep painful sorrow of losing someone so close to me that they were my reason for being. I am the oldest of eight children. I have five sisters and two brothers. I helped my mother raise my siblings and I tend to think of them as my own. Last month I was in South Florida visiting with two of my sisters, proud of their accomplishments and who they have become. When it came time to leave them I felt sad. But once I hit the road and began my journey north on 95 the tears just kept coming. My heart ached so deep for leaving them, but I knew that they were fine without me. I just really wanted to stay with them longer because I find more of me when I am with them.

Serving on the trial that just wrapped up made me realize that as unfair as life can be, we have to always hold on to the moment. Nothing in this world is promised forever. Time is short for each and every one of us and fate does happen.

-Nefertiti
June 6, 2009

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