The courthouse gave me a wonderful Christmas present and moved me from the regular jury panel to the alternate list. That was a HUGE relief. As an alternate, I have to check the list every Friday, either by phone or internet, and see if my number is scheduled for the following week. Sure enough, my number was listed for today, the very first day of this jury duty commitment. We had the weekend to process this information.
Of course, today is the first day back into our life. We've been on a lazier schedule the past couple weeks, with my husband's holiday leave creating extra-long weekends. He ended up having to call into work and say that he would either be late, or absent today, due to my jury duty requirement. That is not a very smooth transition back into our "normal" routine.
It was completely out of the ordinary for me to have to wake up an hour earlier than usual, get showered, dressed, and leave the house before most of the family was even awake. Since it was cold, I also had to warm the car and scrape the ice off the windows. I can't even remember how long it has been since I've done that. I have not participated in the morning commute in our town for at least 6 years. I did not miss it.
I got started on the wrong foot when I turned into the employee parking structure, instead of the public parking structure. The entrances are less than a block apart, and I missed the sign. I realized my error after it was too late and I was already stuck in the lane where there was no where to go but forward....and I couldn't go forward without an employee badge. That was embarrassing. I pushed the panic button (some call button that had no audio response), and a security guard arrived to let me through the barrier so I could turn my car around and go over to the correct parking structure. He was cordial, thankfully.
I managed to park and find my way toward the courthouse. Going through security was a completely different experience first thing this morning, than it was the afternoon of jury orientation. The line was empty. The security guards were friendly, and even smiling. The courthouse is a completely different place early in the morning, before business gets rolling. The staff were smiling and welcoming. All throughout the building, men were gentlemen who opened doors or held doors for me everywhere I walked.
I was led to the juror waiting room. The regular panel sat in one room, the alternates waited in another. We all sat around and waited for each juror to show up. 12 jurors are required. If the regular panel has any of their 12 missing, then the alternates have to fill those slots for the day. We were handed a list of targets and witnesses and advised to make sure we did not know anyone on the schedule that day. Of the 8 alternates on the list today, 7 of us showed up. Of the 12 panel members, 10 showed up. We were informed that 2 alternates would be required for the day. The alternates were a friendly bunch. We shared small talk about how being called in the very first day was a bit more challenging than anticipated. Most expressed a desire to be dismissed.
One guy volunteered to stay. That left 1 remaining slot to fill. The juror coordinator decided to pick a number and have the person closest to her picked number be the other person to remain. She wrote her number on a piece of paper, and turned to us to guess. The game came to a quick halt with the first lady, because she guessed the number exactly. No need for the rest of us to pick a number also. I was internally amused because the lady picked the number that I was originally going to say....3. The two alternates were moved over to the room with the jury panel. The rest of us got our parking cards stamped, and we were dismissed.
I spent more time driving to the courthouse than I spent in the courthouse. I was pleased that I got to return home today. That was a big relief. That adventure completes my jury obligation for this entire week. The list for next week comes available Friday evening.
1 week down, 12 to go...
Of course, today is the first day back into our life. We've been on a lazier schedule the past couple weeks, with my husband's holiday leave creating extra-long weekends. He ended up having to call into work and say that he would either be late, or absent today, due to my jury duty requirement. That is not a very smooth transition back into our "normal" routine.
It was completely out of the ordinary for me to have to wake up an hour earlier than usual, get showered, dressed, and leave the house before most of the family was even awake. Since it was cold, I also had to warm the car and scrape the ice off the windows. I can't even remember how long it has been since I've done that. I have not participated in the morning commute in our town for at least 6 years. I did not miss it.
I got started on the wrong foot when I turned into the employee parking structure, instead of the public parking structure. The entrances are less than a block apart, and I missed the sign. I realized my error after it was too late and I was already stuck in the lane where there was no where to go but forward....and I couldn't go forward without an employee badge. That was embarrassing. I pushed the panic button (some call button that had no audio response), and a security guard arrived to let me through the barrier so I could turn my car around and go over to the correct parking structure. He was cordial, thankfully.
I managed to park and find my way toward the courthouse. Going through security was a completely different experience first thing this morning, than it was the afternoon of jury orientation. The line was empty. The security guards were friendly, and even smiling. The courthouse is a completely different place early in the morning, before business gets rolling. The staff were smiling and welcoming. All throughout the building, men were gentlemen who opened doors or held doors for me everywhere I walked.
I was led to the juror waiting room. The regular panel sat in one room, the alternates waited in another. We all sat around and waited for each juror to show up. 12 jurors are required. If the regular panel has any of their 12 missing, then the alternates have to fill those slots for the day. We were handed a list of targets and witnesses and advised to make sure we did not know anyone on the schedule that day. Of the 8 alternates on the list today, 7 of us showed up. Of the 12 panel members, 10 showed up. We were informed that 2 alternates would be required for the day. The alternates were a friendly bunch. We shared small talk about how being called in the very first day was a bit more challenging than anticipated. Most expressed a desire to be dismissed.
One guy volunteered to stay. That left 1 remaining slot to fill. The juror coordinator decided to pick a number and have the person closest to her picked number be the other person to remain. She wrote her number on a piece of paper, and turned to us to guess. The game came to a quick halt with the first lady, because she guessed the number exactly. No need for the rest of us to pick a number also. I was internally amused because the lady picked the number that I was originally going to say....3. The two alternates were moved over to the room with the jury panel. The rest of us got our parking cards stamped, and we were dismissed.
I spent more time driving to the courthouse than I spent in the courthouse. I was pleased that I got to return home today. That was a big relief. That adventure completes my jury obligation for this entire week. The list for next week comes available Friday evening.
1 week down, 12 to go...
Wow, sounds quite exciting. I have never had Jury duty, but I think I would really like to do it sometime.
ReplyDelete