Jury Duty

Several months back I got a summons for Jury Duty. You know....that civic responsibility that keeps our nation great. The timing couldn't have been worse between reserves and work, so I postponed it. I got the next summons and the same problem - too busy. Did I mention that you have to postpone for at least 6 weeks out? I could have fit jury duty in quite nicely except for that.

Well, when I got the second summons and postponed, I picked a spot early in October. Apparently the 9th of October is what I decided on. Well, that wouldn't do either, so I had to move it again. Luckily, you get two weeks in either direction from your report date. Today was my day.

Armed with my video Ipod, and a book to write my love letter to my wife, I set out. The best news about all of this is California switched a couple years back to One Day - One Trial. If you get picked for a trial, you do that trial and are done. It can last one day or thirty. If you don't get picked for a trial, you're done. Period. Go home. Come back in a year or two.

The one thing that really surprised me was that 80% of the people there had done Jury Duty before. It's been 7 years since I left active duty and this is the first time for me. My lovely lizard wife has been chosen three times, but as the primary care giver to our nest she doesn't have to serve.