Dodged that bullet!

Okay anyone knows me knows that I'm a totally patriotic American. I thank our military for their service both in person and via e-mail when they contact the admissions office. I have more flags inside and outside of my house than you'll find in Washington D.C. (okay maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration...) My whole living room is red, white and blue Americana decor. I salute the flag without fail and get choked up over the national anthem! I think we live in the greatest nation on God's green Earth! But I don't wanna do jury duty!!! It's just not something I'm fond of doing. I don't want to know that I could have a part in the future of some guilty or innocent person! I understand completely why we do it and yes, I do my part but it's just not something I look forward to doing. I've sat on two jury trials in the past and I guess I hope that will meet the quota and I won't have to do it again. But alas and alack, today was my day to perform my civic duty!

I actually went to the courthouse in El Cajon which is much better for parking (downtown San Diego does NOT favor those in cars and I really didn't feel like using the trolley.) After going through security, I went into the lounge. I have to say that the greeters and staff members were extremely nice, especially since they deal with all sorts of humanity there! They showed us a video about why jury duty is so important and I have to admit they softened me up a bit. But I still wasn't thrilled about the possibility of being chosen. There were about 75 other people who didn't look as nervous as I - pick one of them please!

They said there were three active courtrooms that could need juries. The first one had a "will call" in for potential jurors. Well, apparently the attorneys settled that case, so one down and two to go! Then the jury chairwoman said that the other two cases had been continued so at 10:00, after sitting there for only two hours, we were free to go home! Whew! I was so happy to walk out of there! But then I thought - well, there are a billion and a half worse things than serving on a jury so next time I'm summoned, I promise to go in with a better spirit (but hopefully I won't be going back for awhile! :-P)