Jury duty

[figment]

I had jury duty today. Thank goodness it was not last week, when everything was crazy at work; this week is relatively calm. So people only flipped out a minor amount at my day "off".

I got to the courthouse at 8 AM and spent the rest of the day doing... nothing.
I watched a "juror orientation" video which stressed how important my participation was.
I listened to people with last names beginning with A-D get called.
I watched The Net, which was pretty awful as far as computer-hacking plausibility went, especially towards the end, and also fairly awful as far as how-bad-can-things-get-for-the-main-character. I'm sure you all knew that already. Now I know it really, really well, because they showed it to us one and a half times.
At some point in there I listened to people with last names beginning with E-K get called.
I read a substantial chunk of I'm the Teacher, You're the Student. (We'd had the author come to AU for an event last week. I had dinner with him. It was nice, and he was funny; I'm not sure that I agree with his teaching style but his writing is easy and enjoyable, and he's good at leading discussions.)
I went on my lunch break, in which I went to the Teaism on 8th St, so that was enjoyable. I read and replied to some work-related email, and called my assistant to answer one question she'd had.
I went back to jury duty and watched more people get called. I think they got through M. (Every time they would restart at the beginning of the alphabet, because more jurors had showed up.)
I watched the first 2/3 of Divine Secrets of the Ya-ya Sisterhood, which I had loathed the mere sight of in book form due to its unrelenting popularity and the nigh-incessant demands of women who swarmed the bookstore I worked at, asking for "That Ya-Ya Book". The movie seems okay, but I don't know if I'll bother to seek it out to watch the end of it.
Finally, at around 3, they told us all we could go home. I did not bother to stand in the huge line to collect my $4 transportation allowance. I just walked out and enjoyed the weather.
Now I'm at home, enjoying the silence, my cats, the Internet, a cider, and the freedom to wear only my underwear.

Boy, it's exciting to be a part of the judicial system.

Comments

[riotdorrrk.livejournal.com]

>I watched The Net, which was pretty awful as far as computer-hacking plausibility went, especially towards the end, and also fairly awful as far as how-bad-can-things-get-for-the-main-character. I'm sure you all knew that already.

thankfully, i am blissfully unaware.

>The movie seems okay, but I don't know if I'll bother to seek it out to watch the end of it.

it's really not. worth it, i mean. that sort of thing has its intended audience, and you are not it...

when i worked for Henn. Cty. Dist. Ct., jury duty seemed like a pretty low-key thing... don't understand why so many people try to get out of it.

[amblypygid.livejournal.com]

I think there are lots of reasons people try to get out of jury duty. If I were called now, it would be terrible from the child care end, since I spend my days at home with the kids. And when I was teaching, it was really hard, because college teaching isn't really something you can easily get a substitute for. I arranged for jury duty to be over spring break (one week) and then had to cancel the second week of classes.

At least I still got my salary, but some people don't get paid if they don't go to work, and that's a huge problem.

[talkswithwind]

The one time my mom got called for Jury Duty was also the one and only week we were ever in Day Care. It happened during the summer, which was tough. I understand that put a big hole in the budget.

[amblypygid.livejournal.com]

The time I was called for jury duty I spent almost all of two weeks sitting around, punctuated by one day where I was brought in as a potential juror on a murder trial. Then the defendent, who was going to represent himself, thought better of it and the trial was postponed.

Still, I was pretty impressed with the whole thing, mostly because everyone in the jury pools seemed to take their responsibilities seriously and try to do the best they could.

[birdfigment.livejournal.com]

I was excited, honestly, when I got the initial summons. But a whole day of mind-numbing movies, while knowing that there was useful work I could/should have been doing, culminating in me not serving any useful purpose at all... that wore the excitement off. I am grateful I didn't have a situation like yours, though. Two weeks of service for one day of screening? Oof. I suppose this was a grand jury call? Mine was only petit.

[amblypygid.livejournal.com]

Yes, grand jury. It did seem like quite a waste of time. But after I was called for the murder trial (the first or second day), I went to the bottom of the list, and they didn't need me after that. I suppose they need a fair number of extra people around since it's not exactly clear how many jurors will be needed.

I know some places only require jurors be reachable by cell phone, so people can go to work and be on call if they need to come in.

[buccaneer.livejournal.com]

If I'm ever in the dock, I want jurors like you. Even if I were guilty as Hell. I'd hate to be convicted by boneheads.

[r0ckc4ndy.livejournal.com]

I can't be on jury duty. They automatically kick off any and all law-people. But I really want to be on one!!
Also, that Ya-Ya book is actually really good, but I didn't read it while it was popular, and didn't see the movie because the book is actually so good I don't want it ruined.

[half-double.livejournal.com]

My experience with jury duty was pretty much exactly like you describe. I did it for a whole week.

But it's how I got hooked on Elizabeth George novels, so it wasn't a total waste.

[kaulis.livejournal.com]

Now I'm at home, enjoying the silence, my cats, the Internet, a cider, and the freedom to wear only my underwear.

I retroactively envy your warm weather.