DC's jury room is one of the circles of hell. Crowded, not well cleaned (ever), overheated, with multiple TVs blaring (luckily all the same thing), not enough restrooms, etc.
Sing it sister! What a hole that place is...and I can't figure out why. It makes no sense that it never gets cleaned, or that the same jittery video (not dvd) player is there year after year, or that the lighting makes you feel as if YOU are the one in jail.
The employees are generally inoffensive, but that place.
And, don'tcha know it...exactly 2 years (the service grace period) and two days after my last appearance, my summons showed up again last week. Blergh.
I have to say, San Francisco's jury waiting room was comfortable, softly lit (okay, a little dim, but in a restful way), and quiet.
Also, a mini-cafe right down the hall with decent coffee and good sandwiches. Thank God, since I'm apparently now well and truly In The System and get called up every 6 months like clockwork.
Stephanie, I'm so sorry about the back pain.
I would post more but I am still ded from puppy cuteness. The one that truly slew me dead (aside from pup and Sparky cuddled in an easy chair, giving bashful and/or baleful stares to the photographer) was the one where she's flopped out alongside a ruler scientifically proving that she is OMG WEE! SO WEE AND SMALL! Science says so!
The jury room here is just big. This is the largest courthouse in the world. I'm on lunch now. Currently I'm in slot #16 on a jury but they haven't started the jury questioning so hopefully I will dodge being on he jury.
so hopefully I will dodge being on he jury.
Can you say, "I'm all booked up with work"? OK, how about "If I can't do my work, Christmas won't come to Beverly Hills"?
Not in California. All you can do is postpone for up to three months. I have already done that. I don't have a window in the next three months that I can take two or more weeks off. All I can do is hope that if I get selected we are done by friday so that I can fly to Toronto as scheduled.
ND - wearing the kilt? that might help ...
Also, still from the set of "The Golden Compass". Look at Sam Elliott - awww.
Apparently not. Improper dress just gets you sent home to come back the next day and start over, or they do a postponement.
For mine, they said we could fill out a hardship form, but warned us that it was really unlikely to work. After the fact, I realized I probably could have given it a shot, since the trial would have gone right through the summer, precisely when I needed to find a job. But I don't know if it would have worked.
Blah. Today is never, ever going to end.
I know that I once got a questionnaire 'cause they were looking at a seven-month (!!!) trial. I told them if I was on that jury I'd end up jobless, homeless, and bankrupt ... so I didn't get called for that one.
I think I've gotten myself excused from jury duty for as long as I live in DC - last year I got called, two months after I'd had my stroke, and the doctor wrote me one great excuse. Made it sound as though I'd be incapable of physically or mentally getting through a trial. yay?
