Jury Duty
I had jury duty Friday. When I received the summons months ago, I informed work, got the day off and that was it. I had been summoned several times before but never had to serve. Show up and get released almost immediately or even call the night before and discover you were excused. My room mate brought up the latter and I realized I hadn't called. I checked my summons and discovered I was not a standby juror who could be excused but a proper juror. I had planned to bring a lunch and drinks but was unsure of the overall process. Was it like an airport where I would have to drink some of my drink? Would food even be allowed? Eventually I decided to carry as little as possible. I packed changed into a little case that once held mints and tossed that in my backpack. I was told to bring change for vending machines but that I would also be going through metal detectors. I also brought my laptop (specifically called out as permitted on the summons) and a couple of books and some cough drops.
I tossed my back-up hard drive in my trunk along with my camera (specifically called out as not being allowed) which disappointed me as I like taking pictures while downtown and it was to be a beautiful day. I left at 6:55 planning to get downtown and park by 8:00 at the latest. As I drove in I considered how I thought the day was like a holiday from work. I like variety and while what I do provides tremendous variety within my field it's still very the same. This was a true change of pace and one that I looked forward to. I even had fantasies about a month long trial that would keep me out of work. A month would just long enough for me to get bored with it and be happy to go back to work - though I'd miss C2E2. And if I was excused early I'd do some touristy stuff and go see the Runaways (the Joan Jett thing staring Kristin Stewart and Dakota Fanning) which is opening but not wide today.
Traffic was not bad. I guessed traffic might be light due to NCAA tourney interest though every time I saw a posted time to downtown it was 22 minutes. Still, the last 22 minutes was relatively accurate. I parked in the Grant Park lot, lower level right by the Washington street lobby, leisurly walked the few blocks west and was at the Daley center by 8:00.
Inside I went through the metal detector --no issues but they did pause on my backpack and up to the 17th floor. I turned in my summons and in exchange received a juror badge -- a sticker which stated "Cook County Circuit Court Juror", a jury pool number (forty one) and a sheet which had mostly the same information on the summons. I noted others had brought water and food and wished I had. I picked a seat by the window and finished up Amber Benson's "Cat's Claw" which I had read all but 20 pages the day it came out but then put it down and was unsure if I'd ever return. I started "Loose Girl: A memoir of promiscuity" by Kerry Cohen and got a few pages in when, at 9:00 I got to watch a video narrated by Lester Holt explaining the Juror's role in the legal system. Shortly after they summoned a couple jury pools but not mine
Around 9:45 they summoned the remaining groups. My group was last to be called. We were escorted by a deputy sherrif to a courtroom and promptly moved to the courtroom next door for reasons I missed. Fourteen of us were selected as potential jurors and then we had a break. When the break was over the Judge arrived and court was in session. A few people were excused for similarities in the case, one of those being a potential juror who was replaced. Four more names were called including mine and by 10:30 I was back in the room I started and part of another pool of potential jurors. The lady at the desk exclaimed as she passed out my new pool number (seven) they were light and the four who were sent back realized we might be in this for the long haul.
From 10:30 to 12:00 I didn't do much of anything. I read a little of my book, looked at some D&D stuff I had on the computer and kind of napped. People who were here earlier filtered back in and it seemed for certain this was an all day event. At noon they let us out for lunch and I picked up my camera and dropped of a few things from the backpack. Grabbed a quick McDs because I was in the mood for a Shamrock Shake and headed over to Blick Art Supplies. I wanted to see if they had the larger Pitt Pens which I though I saw there but realized they were at Utrecht. They were going to be too far for me to make in the time I had because I had a conference call at 1:00. I didn't have to make it but decided to do it anyways but once I dialed in I realized I shouldn't have pushed myself. Nothing directly involving me was discussed so waste of time.
The rest of the day was incredibly boring. Around 3 they told us there were two judges who might still need juries but had not canceled. We had to be there until that happened. Jury duty waiting around is like waiting at the airport except not as fancy. The seats aren't as comfortable and all have arms so you can't lay out and sleep. There are no concourse stores just a few vending machines and the bathrooms are old and kinda small. All the rest I tried to get was not very restful and just left me kind of groggy. At 3:30 they canceled. I originally was going to spend the evening downtown - grab some dinner and a movie, take in some of the sights but was so tired after all that I just stopped off at Challengers and then went home. I regret it now but really don't know if I could do it without a power nap in there somewhere.
I had jury duty Friday. When I received the summons months ago, I informed work, got the day off and that was it. I had been summoned several times before but never had to serve. Show up and get released almost immediately or even call the night before and discover you were excused. My room mate brought up the latter and I realized I hadn't called. I checked my summons and discovered I was not a standby juror who could be excused but a proper juror. I had planned to bring a lunch and drinks but was unsure of the overall process. Was it like an airport where I would have to drink some of my drink? Would food even be allowed? Eventually I decided to carry as little as possible. I packed changed into a little case that once held mints and tossed that in my backpack. I was told to bring change for vending machines but that I would also be going through metal detectors. I also brought my laptop (specifically called out as permitted on the summons) and a couple of books and some cough drops.
I tossed my back-up hard drive in my trunk along with my camera (specifically called out as not being allowed) which disappointed me as I like taking pictures while downtown and it was to be a beautiful day. I left at 6:55 planning to get downtown and park by 8:00 at the latest. As I drove in I considered how I thought the day was like a holiday from work. I like variety and while what I do provides tremendous variety within my field it's still very the same. This was a true change of pace and one that I looked forward to. I even had fantasies about a month long trial that would keep me out of work. A month would just long enough for me to get bored with it and be happy to go back to work - though I'd miss C2E2. And if I was excused early I'd do some touristy stuff and go see the Runaways (the Joan Jett thing staring Kristin Stewart and Dakota Fanning) which is opening but not wide today.
Traffic was not bad. I guessed traffic might be light due to NCAA tourney interest though every time I saw a posted time to downtown it was 22 minutes. Still, the last 22 minutes was relatively accurate. I parked in the Grant Park lot, lower level right by the Washington street lobby, leisurly walked the few blocks west and was at the Daley center by 8:00.
Inside I went through the metal detector --no issues but they did pause on my backpack and up to the 17th floor. I turned in my summons and in exchange received a juror badge -- a sticker which stated "Cook County Circuit Court Juror", a jury pool number (forty one) and a sheet which had mostly the same information on the summons. I noted others had brought water and food and wished I had. I picked a seat by the window and finished up Amber Benson's "Cat's Claw" which I had read all but 20 pages the day it came out but then put it down and was unsure if I'd ever return. I started "Loose Girl: A memoir of promiscuity" by Kerry Cohen and got a few pages in when, at 9:00 I got to watch a video narrated by Lester Holt explaining the Juror's role in the legal system. Shortly after they summoned a couple jury pools but not mine
Around 9:45 they summoned the remaining groups. My group was last to be called. We were escorted by a deputy sherrif to a courtroom and promptly moved to the courtroom next door for reasons I missed. Fourteen of us were selected as potential jurors and then we had a break. When the break was over the Judge arrived and court was in session. A few people were excused for similarities in the case, one of those being a potential juror who was replaced. Four more names were called including mine and by 10:30 I was back in the room I started and part of another pool of potential jurors. The lady at the desk exclaimed as she passed out my new pool number (seven) they were light and the four who were sent back realized we might be in this for the long haul.
From 10:30 to 12:00 I didn't do much of anything. I read a little of my book, looked at some D&D stuff I had on the computer and kind of napped. People who were here earlier filtered back in and it seemed for certain this was an all day event. At noon they let us out for lunch and I picked up my camera and dropped of a few things from the backpack. Grabbed a quick McDs because I was in the mood for a Shamrock Shake and headed over to Blick Art Supplies. I wanted to see if they had the larger Pitt Pens which I though I saw there but realized they were at Utrecht. They were going to be too far for me to make in the time I had because I had a conference call at 1:00. I didn't have to make it but decided to do it anyways but once I dialed in I realized I shouldn't have pushed myself. Nothing directly involving me was discussed so waste of time.
The rest of the day was incredibly boring. Around 3 they told us there were two judges who might still need juries but had not canceled. We had to be there until that happened. Jury duty waiting around is like waiting at the airport except not as fancy. The seats aren't as comfortable and all have arms so you can't lay out and sleep. There are no concourse stores just a few vending machines and the bathrooms are old and kinda small. All the rest I tried to get was not very restful and just left me kind of groggy. At 3:30 they canceled. I originally was going to spend the evening downtown - grab some dinner and a movie, take in some of the sights but was so tired after all that I just stopped off at Challengers and then went home. I regret it now but really don't know if I could do it without a power nap in there somewhere.
AND...
happy b- day, have a great day!