Jury Duty

As if the harsh winter we are having isn't enough to crush my spirit, this afternoon I found a jury summons in my mailbox. The week of March 8th, I am to call each day and hope my number doesn't come up. If my number does not come up - I am juror #407 - then all I am out is the time it takes to make that phone call each day. If I am told to report, then I sit and wait - up until 5:30 pm each day - till they decide if I am chosen for a jury.

I realize that jury duty is a responsibility for the privilege of being a United States citizen. I will do it if I am chosen. But I won't like it. I am leaving on vacation toward the end of the following week. The week before I leave for vacation is going to be frantic at work due to deadlines. I sent my boss an e-mail informing him of my jury summons. With all we have going on at work, I didn't have the heart to stand and face him and tell him I could possibly be gone that whole week.

There are other reasons jury duty bothers me. I really don't care to be forced to listen to lurid details of a court trial. Want to know another reason? I'm a very opinionated person, as anyone who knows me well will tell you! After listening to evidence in a trial, it would take me all of five minutes to make up my mind of guilt or innocence and I would have no patience at all with a room full of people taking hours to make up their mind.

Anyway, thanks for listening.