I arrived promptly, had my belongings scanned by the official looking guys at the entrance, and made my way to the Jury Gallery, which sounded way better than it was. Basically, we were corralled in a big overheated room with no windows, seated about six inches apart. All 147 of us packed like sardines.
We waited about 30 minutes for one of the judges to pay us a visit and applaud us for partaking in our civic duty. She also explained that there were four cases that were being reviewed today, so I figured my chances of getting selected were pretty good. We then watched an idiot-proof video that walked us through completing the yes/no questionnaire. And then we sat. Being the prepared type, I'd brought along all my work-related reading in order to catch up.
About 45 minutes later we were given a morning break and many of us made our way to the court house cafeteria. That's where one of the jurors appeared to not be feeling well, explained that she'd had diarrhea three times already that morning (can you say, TMI?), and proceeded to pass out, then wake up to vomit. Hey, this jury duty was proving to be quite the experience!
We returned to the corral where I actually spotted a friend who had an open seat near her. I took that seat which unfortunately had to be next to "one of those guys." There's always one of those guys in a crowd who is just a bit too friendly.
Well, this return from break lasted till 11:30 a.m. with no word from anyone official, and then we were told to we could go to lunch till 1:00. About this time it occurred to me that the government is not really a very well-oiled machine. It appears to be incredibly inefficient. Who knew!
I enjoyed a terrific cheeseburger (notice a cheeseburger theme in this blog?) at the Koffee Korner with Freakin' Angel Cara, and then headed back to fulfill my responsibilities, certain that I was destined to partake in the trial of the century.
Interestingly, back at the ranch, the televisions were on and were tuned to A & E. We watched Criminal Intent, The Sopranos, and the beginning of CSI Miami. I thought that was kinda strange, but then I realized that it was actually a brilliant means for helping us understand the criminal psyche!
So with the televisions as background noise, I waited. And waited. And waited. I ran out of reading material. I played brickbreaker on my blackberry. I tried calling my husband but he never answers when I call. I got so desperate for a diversion that I called my children.
Finally, at 3:00 p.m. another judge arrived to tell us the good news. All four cases had settled, and it was only because 147 of us had sat there all day. Without having us corralled nearby they never would have had the threat of a ready jury to lord over the bad guys. Unbeknownst to any of us, we had in fact saved the day. Ah, the power of justice. I'm feeling rather like a superhero tonight and I can't wait to do it again!
1 comment:
Well that was a nice way of the judge to tell you that you did not in fact waste away the entire day. Jury duty is an interesting task of citizenship.
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