My Day in Court

So I received a lovely green card from Davis Country summoning me for Jury Duty. I was moderately worried but figured I wouldn't have to actually go in.

Wrong. I had to go in.

I showed up with 75 other people to go through a long and boring jury selection process. We were welcomed at 8:30am and shown a short video about how awesome it is to be a juror. True. Duly noted.....but I can't stop worrying about what I'm going to do with my kiddos if I'm selected. Judge informs us that the jurors who are selected for this trial will be needed for 6 days!! Oh and p.s. that's just courtroom time. Deliberations could take another several days. Judge says he has known juries to be deliberating until 2am! Wait...What?

Judge asks if this length of time will be an extreme burden on anyone. Five people raise their hands and give their reasons.  "Make arrangements" is his reply. No one gets a pass. One poor guy had a friend flying in from New Zealand for a visit. Judge said, "You'll have your evenings free."

Are you kidding me? I'm quite certain being a SAHM (stay-at-home mom) would not save me.

We wait.

Meanwhile I am seated next to a 84 year old lady who is a member of the "Tappin' Granny's."  They perform all over the county at different events. Impressive. She taps everyday for 2 hours. Yes I said 84. My workout schedule is just plain embarrassing compared to her routine.

We wait some more.

We sit though introductions of each juror answering about 15 questions about personal history, past employment, etc. one by one. Holy cow. Took forever. But before we shared our information, Judge shared his for like 20 minutes.  He is cracking jokes and recounting personal anecdotes. Entertaining? Maybe, if I had no concept of how much time is passing, or had zero compassion for my sweet neighbor and awesome friend who is handling her three children + Kaitlyn and Jackson at nap time. I shudder to think how that is working out.

We are excused for a 45 minute break for lunch. There are few options.

Rush back to the courtroom after eating half a disgusting panini and gross soup form Harmon's.

wait, wait, wait....in complete silence for an hour.

Judge finally returns and gives us specific details about the case. He poses about a billion questions in several scenarios and asks if we have ever had experience with said scenarios. If so, we need to explain in front of the entire group. We are instructed to "disclose" information that may make it difficult to stay objective during the case. Painfully exhaustive, almost everyone has something to "disclose" including myself.

Meanwhile my phone goes off loud and proud.- "Say it Right", thanks Nelly Furtado. Awesome. It should have been off.  I had been sneaking text messages to Markham.

oops.

I had nothing else to do. I had been prepared and brought a book, Fablehaven book 5, which was absolutely perfect since I just finished book 2. I apparently grabbed the wrong one in my frantic haste earlier in the morning.

Jurors were excused in groups all throughout the day. I am convinced I will be selected. It is just my luck. At this point, my anxiety is full throttle and I'm a hot mess. We are down to 30 now, it is 3pm.

We wait another 40 minutes for the lawyers to decide who the jurors will be.  While we are sitting there, Judge gives us a history lesson on the Magna Carta.

Judge also tells us not to be offended or take it personally if we are not selected for the jury. Trust me. It's not gonna be a problem. Tappin' Granny might be a little bummed though. She has been amped the whole day.

The time has come. The names are read out loud painfully slow. I start to wonder if they are just being cruel. It's so completely nerve racking.

My name is not one of them.

The rest of us are excused. Hooray!!

 It's 4pm.

Super long day, but I'm not complaining.

The End