A to Z Challenge – J is for Jury

A lot of people view being called for jury duty as an inconvenience, a disruption in their day, or week, or however long they are required to go to fulfill their obligation. Not me. I’m one of the rare few that actually don’t mind getting called for jury duty, who enjoys watching the process unfold and performing my civic duty.

This may explain why I’ve never actually been picked for a jury.

I’ve only been called for jury duty five times in my life, and only once have I actually made it down to the courthouse. That was in Connecticut, and I was only there until the lunch break before I was released. There were two “missed it by that much” calls, once when Connecticut summoned me not long after I had moved to Minnesota, and once again when Minnesota summoned me not long after I moved to Texas.

My experience in Texas has been different in that I’ve been assigned ‘standby’ juror status. My theory on this is, should the jury pool run low during the day, they bring in a bunch more in the afternoon so there’s no real disruption in the process.

Both times required me to call to see if I would be needed to report to the courts building, so both times I hopped the light rail to downtown, called at the assigned time, and was told both time that I was not needed and my obligation was completed. Then, I’d grab lunch at a deli near the train station and head for home, knowing full well that had I called from home, I would have had to scramble to make it downtown on time because I would have been picked.

All in all, it’s a nice diversion, it gets me out of the office for a day, and I get to feel like I’ve done my part for my community.