Jury Duty

Well I finally was called in for jury duty. My lucky number was 136 and I was hoping it would be high enough that I wouldn't have to show up but I did. The last time I received a summons my number was too high so I didn't have to go in. I was able to sleep in a little after calling in to work. I got to the DuPage County Courthouse a little before 9:45 a.m. We checked in and they gave us a yellow "Juror" badge that we had to wear and a little pamphlet to read. There was about 200 people. The lounge was pretty nice. They made us watch a short instructional video and then we sat and sat and sat. The first group was called and I wasn't picked. Then it was lunchtime. Because it was Ash Wednesday I fasted and didn't eat. I brought along my textbook and "The Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole. I read it over 20 years ago and I remember it being one of the funniest books I ever read. I have always wanted to write a book like it. I was able to read about 120 pages of it while my textbook sat in the bookbag.

At about 1:30 p.m. I was with a group that got called up to a courtroom on the fourth floor. It was for a trial of some guy who was caught selling a lot of ecstasy. It took about an hour and a half for them to pick twelve jurors and an alternate. Again thankfully I missed the cut. They sent the remaining people back to the jury lounge. At 3:00 p.m. we were dismissed because there were no more juries being picked that day. I got home about the time I normally do on a work day.

The day was a lot more tiring than a normal workday. I don't know how the judges, lawyers, clerks and bailiffs sit through it day after day. Thank goodness I didn't become a lawyer as I originally wanted to. The tedium would have done me in. Talk about repetition and boring. I had to take a long nap when I got home. The one nice benefit is I missed a day of work that I will get paid for.