The jury is out…

So, I was to report to the Court House this morning at 9am with my completed ‘jury selection form’.  There is something intimidating about the whole process.  Must…follow…every…detail…of…enclosed…instructions.

But for one who is normally quite organized, I made a minor slip.  I just assumed I knew which Court House the form was referencing -right across from my favourite pizza-by-the-slice place! 

I quickly realized by the empty parking lot, except for 3 police cruisers, that I was in the wrong place.  Whew…thankfully the correct Court House was right up the street, and still perfect location for making a stop for pizza on the way home! 

Doing my civic duty, I was there with bells on.  Well, actually, I think the security guard wouldn’t have been impressed with the bells and the beeping scanner, so I left the bells in the car and took my Blackberry instead.  

Timing isn’t the greatest  to have to serve on a jury, but there is a bit of curiosity in what it’s like to go through the jury selection process and I am already learning a few things, first and foremost - patience. 

The day started with a line-up to get through security, a line-up to check-in, another line-up to verify personal information, and then sit and wait, and wait…and then they told us that they didn’t anticipate they would get to the selection process today and we were excused until tomorrow.

Apparently, we are ‘on call’ all week.  Too bad ‘on call’ didn’t mean that they called you at home or at work to tell you when you were needed rather than having to be there in person waiting.  I don’t know how the rest of the people (~ 200 or so) feel, but I suspect that there has got to be a better, more efficient way.  That’s a lot of people who missed work, appointments, or maybe even a few extra minutes of sleep.

So, I wonder what’s on tap for tomorrow.  One thing is sure, I will be packing some reading material, my laptop, a fully-charged Blackberry.  Oh…and snacks…