The Jury Is Out

Out to lunch, that is. For two hours. Every day.

That about sums up my jury duty. I showed up downtown on my first day. Husband was kind enough to drive me 'into the city' (as they say in much bigger towns) and walk with me the four blocks from his parking deck where he normally parks to the courthouse, since I had no concept of where I was going. After the first day, I was on my own to navigate the streets, stepping over quilt covered homeless men on the sidewalk and avoiding flocks of pigeons. All in a day's work!

You know it's not going to be a joy ride when the first fellow juror you encounter tells you that she hopes she doesn't get on the well publicized mass murderer case because she went to beauty salon school with one of the victims. And the woman telling you this little tidbit has a goatee. This suburban girl was out of her element.

My only enjoyment that first day was the 20 minute movie. It told about how you were selected (random, computerized from voter registration - they want civic minded people!) and that you will likely develop friendships to last a lifetime!!!!! I wasn't the only one snorting at that.


I soon discovered the 'Quiet Room' had more comfortable seats than the regular jury lounge, so I parked myself in there for the majority of my term. The only problem was that one elderly gentleman decided he could sleep in the Quiet Room and he had no qualms about snoring either.

A two hour lunch break might sound good to those of you who are gainfully employed. For me, alone downtown (Husband doesn't take a lunch because he has "too much work to do," plus he was going in late and leaving early to accommodate my busy jury duty schedule) with two hours to kill was pure torture. I attempted to get a little exercise by climbing the stairs and walking around the justice center numerous times. I probably looked like an idiot going around in circles.

My entire duty was fulfilled the first day when my name was finally called. I was sent with the others to a deliberation room and we sat around a table looking at each other for 20 minutes. Then a judge came in and said we were dismissed because the defendant decided he wanted a new attorney. And that concluded my civic obligation. My name was never called again. Out of about 300 jurors, there were probably only about 20 of us who never got on a case. The good news is, I was released from service early and did not have to report the next week!

You may be wondering how much a person can earn for sitting on their ass 8 hours/day. That would be $20. I never thought I'd say this, but I actually got tired of reading.