Jury Duty

I wound up being called for jury duty, and actually had to show up at the courthouse this morning.

See, this is how it works: One day you check your mail and contained within its junk mail, and bill confines is this innocuous little piece of paper informing you of your summons to appear for jury duty. No biggie, just sign the page, return it, and let them know you'll show up (unless, of course you have a valid reason to defer).

This morning, I got to sleep in until a whopping 6:20am! Whoo-hoo! The reason being, I had to report for jury duty by 8:00am. I did not have to wrangle my sweet little children (like the usual 7am morning madness), as dear sweet B.J. was home to watch them (my babysitter is sick, but that's another story unto itself!). So, it meant I didn't need to leave the house until about 7:40am to make it to the courthouse on time.

Upon arrival to the 'Jury Duty Reporting' entrance, I walked into what appeared to be the bowels of the courthouse. A downward sloping sidewalk led me to a door into an institutional white hallway complete with post-9-1-1 security screening. After being screened, I was admitted to yet another bland and cheerless room where I filled out two forms: one to give my name, juror number, and whether or not my employer would pay me for my time away from work to serve on the jury; the other form was a general survey of who I was--my age, marital status, educational background, and hobbies. With those two forms filled out, I waited in a short line to be counted 'present' and be accounted for, to fulfil my charged duty.

What followed was approximately two hours of sitting in a rather uncomfortable chair alongside the perimeter of the dour, fluorescent-lighted space. Thankfully I had my copy of Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. While I was fully diverted by my choice in reading material, the only excitement I was to have while in the Jury selection room was a $1.50 discount coupon to be used at the courthouse espresso bar (which got me a skinny coconut latte-yum!), and listening to Pam, the juror coordinator (I don't know her actual title, but she was the one who made the announcements and herded us around the bowels of the courthouse like a well work-worn Australian Shepherd moves his flock with so little effort). Pam was great. She was as entertaining as watching BBC America, that droll, dry sarcasm and dark humor that I so appreciate.

Toward the end of the 2 hour period I, along with the others, became restless. We wanted to know if we would see 'action' or, if not, could we please just get a move on and get out to live our lives!? Finally, the the announcement came: There would be no jury trials today. We had fulfilled our civic obligation of 'jury duty' for the interim next two years--so, should we receive a summons, we would be able to check the handy little box that states 'ineligible: jury duty in the last 2 years'.

So, while I wasn't exactly thrilled to go, I was able to get out early, having done my 'job' and was able to go and enjoy the remainder of the day with my husband and children.

To celebrate, we made our very first pilgrimage to Chuck-E-Cheese. It was very fun, and the kids had a blast, and, surprisingly enough, they actually make a pretty good pizza.

The great American Justice system and Chuck-E-Cheese. What more can I ask for?