Reasonable

I had a funny call this week with someone that want to define what the word reasonable means. I used the word in the sense a dictionary does, as in neither excessive or extreme and with sound judgment. Clearly my counterpart viewed the word through a different lens that we grappled with for several minutes... The issue seemed to be about whose judgment to use as a reasonable standard, and I was putting this question directly to them to make a decision using their own judgment instead of speculating about what other people could potentially believe. In the end, I think that was the point. Taking accountability for a reasonable standard is daunting task. That is why juries take so long, I think. Answering for yourself is easier than answering for a population. Some people take a little longer to feel comfortable with claiming to represent a reasonable standard.