"Let her cry
If the tears fall down like rain
Let her sing
If it eases all her pain
Let her go
Let her walk right out on me
And if the sun comes up tomorrow
Let her be..."
-"Let Her Cry" by Hootie and the Blowfish
Jury Duty: Today is my first ever day at jury duty. Needless to say I'm only 1 hour in and it is already an adventure. I'll try to blog throughout the day as long as my battery holds out. fingers crossed that they will release us early!
What? No ID check? I expected them to check my ID as soon as I got to the Central Jury room, but so far they haven't bothered to verify that I am the person who actually received the summons. I'm guessing that if I get selected for a jury panel they will check it then.
Humor in the Jury Room? The judge came to talk to us first and to swear us in under oath. Then Millie, who has been here for 29 years, came to speak to us. She repeated much of what the judge said but also informed us about things like downtown parking woes, and where we can wander off to without being out of range of the loudspeakers (that they have also installed in the bathrooms because apparently people used to try to hide in there). I appreciated the humor but could have done without the long lines at the women's restroom (same old, same old).
Pre-Lunch Panel Calls: We had 3 but I was not called for any of them. The first one came around 10:15 am and was for a panel of 40. The 2nd and 3rd ones came at 11:20 am and were for 30 and 64 respectively. They finally released us for lunch at 11:45 am and gave us off until 1:30 pm. I plan to finish reading my book and playing on my phone during this time. The Central Jury room tends to be cold enough to not really allow me to want to do much else.
Walking Lunch: I decided to eat my lunch on the run today because I had the brilliant idea that I could swing by the Institute of Texan Culture and pick up their book sale books in the nearly 2 hour lunch break they gave us. Along the way I saw someones bloody cotton ball from where their had an arm injection (gross!) and a diaper that someone had failed to toss in the garbage can a mere 2 feet away (double gross). To add insult to injury, I lost my cushy parking spot and didn't get to the Institute because the directions I had were wrong. I wound up circling downtown and having to come back to the Downtown campus the long way. I wound up parking the car in the staff lot and giving up the hopes of killing two birds with one stone. Now I just have to hope I get out of here in time to actually get the books today - I don't want to make another trip down here tomorrow! The only fun thing about the walk back? I saw Barbie and her pink corvette. Okay, so it wasn't really Barbie but the color of that car and her blonde hair pretty much screamed "I'm a Barbie Girl, in a Barbie world. Life in plastic...it's fantastic...."
Back to the Jury Room: Both my cell phone and my computer were on low battery, so I went in search of a plug and wound up having to sit on the dusty floor because the more comfortable spots were all taken. I've never been more aware of my age than I am after trying to get up from the floor! Everything hurt! Add insult to injury? My cell phone never fully charged and it died about two hours later when I actually needed it. Though they told us to come back by 1:30, there was no action until around 2:15 pm when they called a panel of 30 (though I swear the lady who was calling out names and numbers missed 12 and 19). About 40 minutes later Millie was back with the two helpers and we got the news that they were releasing all of us. Turns out that there were two cases that had been pending that would have been 4-week trials, but both were settled out of court. Not that I would have been selected, but a 4 week trial is down right scary! They called us up to get our certificates showing that we had participated and sent us on our way. Apparently I'm done for the next 3 years...and I earned $6.
Book Sale Book Pick Ups: With jury duty over I was able to actually accomplish my book pick ups, but I keep forgetting the stupid dolly that would make my life so much easier. i managed to get the books at the downtown campus without too much trouble but the ITC was a little dicier- finding the place and finding out that someone else had come to pick up two boxes of books (and never told me!). Luckily there was on crate left and I collected it. Tomorrow I have to get UH and West Campus and then we have work to do in terms of sorting the books. Tomorrow is going to be a long day!
Final Thoughts on Jury Duty: I must say that the process for jury duty isn't all bad but it definitely isn't all good either. I understand why they have to do it the way they do, but wow, what a waste of time for many of us. Yes, I got to read but I could have been doing some of my work items and catching up rather than losing one more day. I actually dropped off the books and then stayed at work for another hour because of traffic on 1604...yikes!
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