I the Juror

After dropping off Kreg for work this morning I went straight to the court house since I had been selected for jury duty. I arrived and looked around at everyone who had the same purpose as I. We all looked like we could have used another hour of sleep and many cups of coffee. At this time of the morning no one seems to own a sense of humor.

Court is in session for case 1 which involved a DWI. I am assigned to an area where we aren't eligible to be chosen for this specific case. I don't know why or how all this actually works. All I know is that I am uncomfortable sitting on an unpadded pew and feel sorry for my neighbor who had to watch me fidget the whole time.

The cases date was given and the judge asked who would not be able to be a juror on this date because of surgeries, vacations, and other types of circumstances. Some of the excuses were: expected new baby arrivals (the judge stated that if this were to occur then they could of course call in with their excuse/emergency and an alternate would be chosen if they were indeed chosen as a juror member); picking up family members from the airport

We sat there for a little over two hours. By the time we broke for a 15 minute break I had to peeeeee. Unfortunately, so did every other woman. Two stalls + many women = me doing the pee pee dance

Court is back in session for case 2 which involved possession of marijuana. Once again I am seated in the area where I will not be chosen for this particular case.

The case's date was given and the judge asked who would not be able to attend court that day as a juror. Some of the excuses were: a hunting trip! (everyone had a great chuckle over this and even the judge had a sense of humor about how he knew that this was pretty important as we were in East Texas); more expected due dates of new babies arriving

This case had several people raising their hands saying they weren't sure if they could make a fair decision because either one they were super against it or two they didn't believe anyone should go to jail for marijuana regardless of what the law says. It was all very interesting to listen to.

After this case we break for lunch. By now I am famished because the last time I had eaten was at 6:30 for breakfast. At work I'm used to having at least one snack between breakfast and lunch.

I arrived back at the court house and spoke to several other people and we all bonded over how long of a day this was and how much jury duty sucked.

By the time we are all seated back in the courtroom it seems lunch has refreshed many. We had comedians in the group that had us all laughing out loud.

Comedian 1: I think I can't do jury duty because I'm driving off for my hunting trip. (we all still find humor in this exemption from jury duty)

Comedian 2: I think I can't do jury duty because I'll be driving off to pick up marijuana. (I know...it's not very funny typed here, but it came from a very old gentleman who didn't look like the type to say anything like that. And I guess everyone were still thinking about the marijuana case)

Case three involved another DWI. This time I am seated in the pool of jurors that could be selected for this case.

The case's date was revealed and I had to raise my hand and give my excuse for not being able to attend court that day. My excuse was that I'll be ending my vacation and would be driving home either on that day or the next. I didn't even have to show proof. It's just accepted by the judge. I think that's pretty cool. So, I was excluded from being picked for this case.

By the time this court case ended and the jurors were selected we were all pretty grumpy. We could still laugh about how long the day was but we were getting over that too especially when the judge told us to be prepared to come back for case four. OMG!

Case four begins and there was a delay. *There was a delay for almost all of these cases* By the time the judge and lawyers came back the judge stated that there wouldn't be a fourth case and we were all released. Sweet Jebus. Thank you.

My day at the court house: 8:15 - 4:45
I think we all earned our $7 and really why don't they pay you more?? Actually, if you are selected they do pay you much more than that.

I am now at home in my jammies and feel totally depleted.

I've done my civic duty. Yay me.