I was called for jury duty today. I’ve never served on a jury before and, stroke of luck, I still haven’t – the required number of jury seats were filled before my number was called. I’m still exempt from serving for another three years, though!
It’s a shame, really – after I saw the case I was actually looking forward to being on the jury (just a little). It would have been a same day trial. I’ve never seen a trial before, and I briefly considered staying and watching as a member of the community, but I was hungry and it was almost lunch time and I wanted to eat with Megh if I could (which I did).
I was surprised by the friendliness of the court staff. One would think that stepping newbies through the system two or three days per week would make them tired of the same stupid routine, but everyone we (the prospective jurors) interacted with was friendly and courteous. They behaved professionally — even with the one guy who was apparently stoned for jury duty. He was interviewed but ultimately not placed in the jury.