Jury Duty!
I was bummed about getting Jury Duty in the city of Cleveland at first - but actually loved it in the end! Here's a recap of my entire experience -
How I got my First Call to Serve Postponed:
I actually got called to Jury Duty several weeks ago, but I got it postponed until now. I was freaking out because I had an agency that I work with flying in that week, and had to get out of it. Really all you have to do to get it postponed is go up to the Jury Commission main desk and ask to postpone your duty, even on the morning of - no letter or reason needed. They're super nice about it. I literally loved the front desk - I was all freaking out and shaking and giving a huge explanation of why I couldn't serve that week. The lady at the front desk looked at me with the kindest eyes and swatted her hand back and forth with a, "Don't worry about it, honey - when can you serve?" And that was it.
Serving My Time... Isn't Bad at All!
So now I'm here and serving my duty, and I have to say, it's been very pleasant.
Day 1:
Arrived at 8:00am, waited in line for a bit to get my badge, then watched a short introduction movie and orientation speech with - what? like 80 other people? 100? There's a lot of people here. The place we wait in reminds me of a big library without the books. Tons of tables and chairs, and even some desks with several electrical outlets and quite room. Every 20-30 minutes or so, a group of jurors are called to the font desk to be questioned by some ... people (I forget this part because I wasn't really paying attention to the movie) to assess if they can be assigned to a case or not. Lunch is 90 minutes - that's AWESOME. The cafeteria is way over-priced. I bought an apple, an individual-serving of hummus, a yogurt, and a soda and it was over $7. C'mon now. I wasn't called after lunch either. Dismissed at 3:30pm. I literally got 3 days of work done in a single day at Jury Duty because I didn't have a single meeting on my schedule. Sweet.
Day 2:
Arrived at 9:30am because the two accidents on I-71 made my 30 minute commute over an hour. I walked in and the awesome ladies at the front desk gave me a, "Tsk, Tsk," then a wink. If you call ahead and let them know you're going to be late, it's not a big deal at all. I should have taken advantage of that, but I'm too nice and honest :)
Since I have never enjoyed a 90 minute lunch before, I decided to go out around the city this time, and walked down Ontario to Public Square. There were a half dozen amazing food trucks parked around Public Square with an amazing band paying homage to the Beatles and Monkees where I parked myself and sang along, munching on some amazing fish tacos by whatever Paddy Wagon I went to - it was Irish... I should've remembered the name. Then, I got hit on by some passerby (which was AWESOME, because I totally felt fat all month) so I scurried away back to the jury commission because I was frightened to be by myself. Yes, I'm 28. So what.
Then did more work -Dismissed at 3:30pm.
Day 3:
Same thing - did a lot of work, called into a few conference calls, listened to people getting called in groups (never my name). At lunch I went to Bar Louie by myself to have some lunch and read for a bit. I got told by a homeless man that I was beautiful, and that made me happy :) Came back, did some more work, and was dismissed at 3:30pm.
Day 4:
Same thing, except this time I packed my lunch because I wanted to snatch up one of those awesome desk seats with all the electrical outlets. I think people would arrive super early to snag them, but my approach was to wait until everybody went to lunch, then stole someone's seat. Totally worked.
That's the only time I actually got work done because I was chatting it up with an old man all morning - he was super conversational. He said probably twice, "Well you should get back to your work," but then he just switched subjects and carried on! It would have been rude to dismiss him. Plus, I liked the company, and the man reminded me of my father - I thought he was very sweet.
THEN a speaker came on at 2:00 saying that all "Monday Jurors with last names starting with A through L" were dismissed. C'MON! I hate being at the end of the alphabet.
But hurray! Finally dismissed, and they thanked me for my time, and told me my jury period was over. They gave me a certificate to hand in at work that said I made $80. Sweet.
The End
That's it! That was my whole jury duty experience. I never got into a court room, nor was I even questioned by a lawyer :( BUT, that's a great thing, because I had all this non-interrupted time (minus old man convo time on day 4) to do so much work that I'm ahead of my own schedule! And now, I don't have to serve for another 2 years. So good for me.
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