psychic crime stoppers - tv and me

What’s up with all the psychics on TV these days? They’re everywhere. Shows like Ghost Whisperer, Medium, Psychic Detectives, and Missing to name a few. Not to mention all the talk shows. I can hardly believe it. You’d think people took psychics seriously or something.

Not that I don’t like it – personally I think it’s great. Assistant to the DA Allison Dubois in Medium and FBI agent Jess Mastirani from Missing are especially fantastic. Deeply embedded in the inner circles of law enforcement they use their psychic visions to solve murders and find missing people. It’s terribly exciting. And what about Court TV’s Psychic Detectives – real life psychics successfully solving real life cases with real life police. Wow!!

There’s no doubt that psychics are sometimes hired by police departments and other law enforcement agencies to help them out on cases. It’s considered a badge of honour for psychics everywhere. But I don’t know how often it actually happens. And despite the recent popularity of this type of thing on TV - is the general public really ready for it? I can’t speak for the general public of course, but my guess is no.

At least they didn’t want me. Not so long ago, I was called up for jury duty. The way they do it in Ontario is to bring a potential juror to the stand. You first face the judge, then any jury members already selected, and finally the crown attorney and the defense. Each one of them has a chance to excuse you.

When I was called up, they stated my name and occupation. The judge asked me if by ‘tarot reader’ I meant that I read tarot cards for money. I said ‘yes’. He said ‘alright’.

The next step was to face my peers. In this case they were two people who had been selected prior to me. The court officer asked each of them if they found me to be ‘acceptable’ or ‘unacceptable’ as a juror.

Remember, what they were being asked was whether or not they thought I was someone capable of making a fair, just and legal evaluation regarding the case to be presented. They personally didn’t care who won or lost the case – at that point we hardly knew what the case was. All they knew about me was my name, what I looked like, and that I read tarot cards for a living. Both of these strangers deemed me ‘unacceptable’.

Though relieved, (I really really didn’t want to be on the jury), I was shocked. Why had they rejected me? They were my peers! I would have been a great juror. Was it really because I was a tarot reader? It was a little disheartening. Were they afraid I would pull cards on the case? Of course I would have. Were they afraid I could see their futures, read their minds? I wouldn’t have been doing that. Did they think I was a fraud, or just plain crazy? Was what I did against their religion, or their life paradigm? Or did they just not like the look of me?

Maybe it had nothing to do with me being a tarot reader, but it felt like it did. I certainly felt like a weirdo as I walked back to my seat. Did Allison Dubois feel like that, or Jess Mastriani? At least I was in good company, or I would be if they were real people. Anyway, I’d rather feel like a weirdo than spend the next three or four weeks on jury duty.

Ultimately, though my peers rejected me, and the Crown Attorney’s office might not yet be ready to hire me as a crime solving assistant, and I probably won’t be getting a TV show any time soon, it wasn’t all a waste. There was something sort of powerful in averring to the State that I am what I am. I do swear, I’m a tarot reader.