The Joys of Jury...I Mean "Civic" Duty

0 for 5! It is Monday morning and I have already had an early breakfast, read all my e-mails and scanned the better portion of the morning news. Where am I this morning? Can you guess? Yep, good ole' 500 Indiana Avenue the home to D.C. Courthouse. It is hard to believe my number came up AGAIN!

Here is pretty much how my civic duty day went:

This morning, I woke up at 5:30 nervous that I was going to sleep through my summons. Ridiculous I know, because I cannot remember the last time I slept passed 6:30 am. I awoke to hear the comforting voices of WAMU (NPR affiliate) state, "Metro promises no delays this morning...beyond ten minutes." This was not a good sign to the start of my day. So I calculated in my head and backed my day up accordingly.

Metro was fine, not packed and I even got to drop my Netflix and tax forms in the mail on the way in. I arrived at Judiciary Square and went to Firehook Bakery for a light breakfast, which consisted of a cookie, because that is all they really had.

I figured I would get to the courthouse no later than 7:30 so, I could grab the one table in the corner of the juror's lounge and plug in my computer. Of course I had to wait in line first to get my badge. I happily set up my computer on the table in the corner, just under the TV. You all know the one that plays PBS documentaries from the 1970s and 1980s. I think the first couple times I went to Jury Duty they played a biography on Babe Ruth. This morning they played something about the history of William & Mary, the college in Virginia.

Soon after I settled, I had a Dell user and an Apple MacBook user on both sides of me jockeying for the outlet. I happily typed away and caught up on my e-mails. It wasn't long before the proctor came in and began the orientation tape. This kicked off what was a busy panel morning.

So, it is now mid way through the morning and 5 panels have been called. I am still sitting here checking and rechecking my e-mail and writing this blog entry. Wait, they are going to call another one...BINGO, JACKPOT, We have a winner - they called my number!

On the way out of the juror lounge I see a big sign on the ATM machine that pays us the four dollars for our transportation. It says out of order...that is never a good sign of the day to come. I forsee angry jurors shaking there fist in the air demanding their measly four dollars.

We are escorted as a very large group to the second floor. There we are told to form 3 columns of lines. What is it about people that don't care for lines or order or any sense of following direction? Our escort was more than clear and very vocal stating, "line up behind these three individuals." Instead half of our group just wandered around and asked stupid questions like, "where are we going...what are we waiting for now?" I swear, you would think some of these people hadn't done this three or four times. Or wait, is that just me who has been called that frequently in the past 6 years?

I have to give it to the court employees. They put up with some seriously annoying jurors. They are always clear in their instructions, and even point you to where you are supposed to go, but some of these jurors have the hardest time following simple directions or instructions. They wander aimlessly as if they don't want to be there. NEWSFLASH: None of us want to be there, but it is your civic duty! And when you chose to move to the district you took on this extra responsibility.

Well, I wasn't picked, but it was close. I was kept until 4:45 that day. I was exhausted by the time I left to head home. Oh, and I never even stopped to get my four dollars from the ATM machine. I will let the district mail it to me. That might be enough to pay for a coffee. I don't look forward to playing catch up at work the next day. Till next call up.