When I was called for jury duty last year, I was so excited, I postponed it. Twice. Can you blame me? My last memory of jury duty—back in the Rendell administration—was a stuffy room in City Hall with my choice of seats: an orange plastic chair with dirt-encrusted scratches, or a yellow plastic chair with dirt-encrusted scratches. Kind of like Guantanamo, only without the amusing torture interludes.

Okay, maybe I'm James Frey-ing a bit. But it sure wasn't fun.

You can only sidestep the municipal reaper twice, however. Last Wednesday, it was my turn in the barrel.

And I was pleasantly stunned.

Smiles from the staff, as I walked into Room 101. A friendly Commissioner Gordon (I swear, it's his real name) welcoming me, steering me to the doughnuts and coffee. Soft, comfortable chairs. There was still that new building smell, even though it's not, and the room was packed with a couple hundred soggy jurors-to-be.

But best of all, they actually talked to us. Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes, suffering a nasty cold, explained the importance of the jury system and thanked us for our service. A simple gesture, but a shrewd one.

Because when's the last the time the city talked to you?

Oh, I hear from the city. Sometimes it tells me I shouldn't have parked in a particular spot. Sometimes, it tells me that its employees are upset about something we've run in the paper.

But rarely do we have a cozy, city-to-citizen, Hey, here's what's going on chat.

And that's what it felt like, as Judge Hughes explained that Yeah, sitting in a room, waiting to be picked does seem like a drag, but it's vitally important to the justice system. Sure, I knew that—there's a snippet of a civics lesson buried away in my brain somewhere. But I appreciated being told, adult-to-adult, that yeah, we matter.

So ol' Swierczy gives Philly jury duty two thumbs up. Even if you don't care to hear from the city … dude, there are doughnuts.

Last week, I took the GPTMC (and others) to task for the excessive Franklin hype. Within hours, a package arrived: a basket of Philly swag, along with a card.

Dear Duane: We're glad the City Paper has found a good use for the extra Ben press kits. Be on the lookout for more mail from GPTMC—this year, we're turning TEN!

It was signed by every member of the GPTMC's PR team.

Well played, my friends. I did smile. And Hickey really enjoyed the spicy cheese dip.

However, you still may not have the train station.