Civic Duty Upheld

I've received my summons for Jury Duty in the mail several times in the past. Fortunately for me, I was moving out of state once and got excused, another time I had non-refundable plane tickets and a vacation planned and got excused, and yet another my entire jury pool was dismissed the day before so no one had to show. This year I received my summons and really didn't give it two thoughts, something would come through to delay this. Sunday night as I rechecked the automated phone system, all it did was confirm that I needed to arrive Monday morning.

I live and work in the suburbs. The thought of going into the city is reserved for ball games and dinners out. To have to commute into the city Monday morning for a suburbanite like myself was nearly enough to give me hives. The extra 30 minutes of traffic and multiple wrong turns, with the impending deadline of 8:30 almost was enough to change me from a juror to a defendant.

Once parked and in the courthouse, I actually started to look forward to jury duty. The obligation to determine someones fate like in a drama movie was almost too must excitement. In the juror pool room, a large courtroom that held the 300+ jurors that reported as required, we received instructions on how to be a juror. Some of us would be on civil trials, others criminal, some local courts, some upper level courts. As I absorbed the 17 minute video, I wondered if this was the same place that David Kelley was inspired for his slew of shows. It sure didn't look like Boston Legal or Ally McBeal, heck, it didn't even look like Night Court. What it did remind me of was old state colleges and universities. Do all public institutions use the same plans for buildings to save money???? After the video, a call was made for the first group of jurors. Assembled they received their marching orders and off they went. Ten minutes later, the next group was called. I must be coming up. Flipping through my book, I continued to wonder. 30 minutes pass. 60 minutes pass. 90 minutes pass. Then my group is called. We leave the fifth floor and head to the 11th. Finally, inside a real court room, I looked around. Seated at one table was the prosecutor and the other was the defendant. Peaking around the edges were various players in this show. That's when I realized it felt more like opening night of a high school musical rather then life and death court. When the judge arrived, she introduced everyone to "cast". Finally serving my civic duty and I was in line to hear a case about an employer and a former dentist from his office. Seems they broke contract and were suing for money. For money!!! And the case was to last at least a week. No life and death here, just to highly compensated people, arguing for more money for a week. Surely not what our founding fathers envisioned.

I never was selected for that jury. They filled the panel with others, before ever calling my name. I returned to the jury pool room, only to find out that the remaining cases were settled that day and we were free to go. For me I never got to play the part in the big show, and next time I certainly won't be so blase about jury summons. I already and thinking about how to stay out of it.