My Experience with Jury Duty

Monday I had Jury Duty, and wanted to record my experience for future me.

First off, I've been super anxious/nervous about this since the minute I saw the envelope in the mail. I was worried about getting put on a jury and having it be some intense trial. I was worried about actually getting there--I hate driving on the freeway, and didn't want to drive downtown where there are a bunch of one way streets and with my summons came a notice that there is construction going on downtown and that some of the streets would be closed. I ended up deciding that the bus was the way to go, but that kind of made me nervous too because you never know what crazies are going to be on the bus, and I don't know downtown well enough to know where exactly it is I needed to get off.

The day finally came. Sunday night I went to sleep a little early since I had to wake up at 5:45 to be ready in time to catch my bus. I started waking up about 1:30, convinced that I had slept through my alarm and that I had missed my bus and was going to have to drive, which just made me more anxious.

I finally got onto the bus, and along the way I noticed a guy get on who also was holding a jury summons to show the bus driver. He sat near me, and as people started getting off the bus we talked a bit about how not excited we were to receive the summons. Eventually there were just three people left on the bus (oh, I guess 4 because there was a driver too), all of us going to jury duty. The bus driver told us exactly where to get off, and exactly how to walk to get there, which buildings to cut through, and whatnot. We waited in line for about 10 minutes to go through security and then I went and sat for about 30 minutes before anything happened.

A judge came in and told us about how great we all were for appearing for jury duty and how he hoped we all would be put on a jury so we could experience it. Then some bailiff came and told us that there were 55 courts that needed juries today, so it would likely be a long day. Finally around 10:30 they started calling names of people who were being placed on panels. The people on both sides of me got called, but I just sat there. They called about 120 people then, and at 11:15 they called 80 more. 11:30 was our lunch break. Because the courts had lunch a little later than us, we ended up with a 2 hour lunch break instead of just 1.5 hours.

Since I wasn't wanting to leave the courthouse til I was done (remember, I don't know downtown well, and it looked kinda shady and I saw way too many crazy looking people on the street) I brought my own lunch. I had looked up online and saw that they had a microwave, so I ate delicious leftovers for lunch, then sat and read for a while until our lunch break was done. Lunch was done at 1:30, and around 2:00 the bailiff came into the room again, told us that two of the courts had called and cancelled their need for a jury--because of this 60 people were being released.

I was sitting next to a girl named Sarah at this point, after Daniel (the guy sitting between us) got put on a panel. We turned to eachother, hoping that we both would be able to leave, or atleast one of us. I was hoping she would get to go home; she works the night shift somewhere and had gotten off work 2 hours before she was supposed to appear at jury duty, she was exhausted. After they named the first 40 people, we realized our chances of being released was miniscule. Then it happened. Number 57. Me. I get to go home! After I picked up my certificate that says that I did my civic duty and that I am exempt from jury duty for the next 36 months, I was headed out the door. I was so excited!

As soon as I walked out the door I pulled my phone out, checked my maps app, and figured out that if I walked really fast I could make a bus, otherwise I would have to wait about 45-55 minutes. The walk took much less time than I thought it would, so I got to sit and wait. A creepy looking old guy who needs a whole new mouth full of teeth walked past, then sat down on a different bench. A few seconds later he came and asked me if I had a cigarette. Apparently I looked like I would have one? When I told him I didn't have any he was disappointed but he left me alone. Another guy came, this time a college aged kid, who looked a lot nicer than the creepy old guy. Then I saw it coming. The 88 bus was a block away! All three of us got on a really full bus. I got a seat next to an older lady who looked pretty darn tired after a hard day of work. After a few stops it seemed like most of the people got off the bus. And that was when this other guy got on. He was in all black, had chains hanging all over his pants, had his ears and nose pierced, had tattoos on his arms, and his hair was in 6 really sweet spikes. I wanted to take a picture, but he sat right across from me and it would've been so incredibly obvious (and awkward) that that's what I was doing.

We passed my library. I pulled the yellow cord. And I got off the bus. I walked past a few houses, and into my own driveway. I came in, and went straight to my bed.

This was a really exhausting day. Sitting, doing nothing for 5 hours, anxiously waiting to hear if they would call your name or not, is really exhausting.

I wanted to go to bed at 7:30, but Chris made sure I stayed up so that I would get a really good nights sleep.

And that's my story. I'm glad it's over.

Other random thought on the day:

I wondered what exactly they meant by their dress code. They said to wear clothes that fit the dignity and solemnity of the court proceedings. They specifically said not to wear shorts, tank tops, and skorts (seriously? people wear skorts still?). One lady was totally wearing flannel pajama bottoms. A bunch were wearing sweatpants, or track suits...  I understand they aren't shorts or tank tops, but really? I played it safe by wearing some khakis, and a nice top, with some flats. Next time I'll wear jeans.