Wednesday, July 20, 2005

This is me.  On jury duty - so cool.  I am logged in to the net right from the courthouse.  Been called once, excused and may be called again.  Will post more later.  It's only 10:30 in the morning and they are calling left and right. 

Well, at least I didn't get called this time.  The other trial that I was excused from was going to last 3 weeks.  I told them I wouldn't be paid for that time and they let me go, but I still have to be around the whole day while they are culling jurors for trials.  Part of me wants to actually be on a jury.  I think it would be interesting - the other part wants to get this over with so I can get back to my life.

I wonder why we think that serving on a jury is now such a burden instead of a privilege.  I surely wouldn't want to be on the other side of the process.  Our lives are so full that even the one day a year that my county requires seems to be such a hardship.  Where did that come from?  What's happened to civic duty?  I'm proud to be called to serve, even if it's just to sit here all day an be available.  Truth is, if I were on trial, I'd like someone like me to be calling the shots. 

Yes, it takes away from my life for a day (but not too much, I have my 'puter).  Yes, I could think of something I would enjoy more.  There are other nerds here, too.  Lost in their laptops, their work, their games, etc.  Like me, they don't seem as upset about the process as those who forgot to bring a book or something to do. 

I'm doin' my civic duty (read that privilege) and I'm having a pretty good time doing it so far.  Have a good day, folks.  I may stop in later if there's anything of interest to tell.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great photo Penny...good luck at the courthouse! :-)

Sandra xxxx

Anonymous said...

I think for most people it's life style issues, people have jobs that dock pay for jury service, stay at home moms can't afford sitters, etc. If a person is self employed, they  stand to loose hundreds of dollars in income if they miss work to sit at a courthouse all day.
I cannot do jury duty during the school year because I homeschool,  there is no one to teach my kids if I am away, currently being disabled I cannot do duty, because I am not independant , so basically I am out of the deal for the rest of my life.
~Julie

Anonymous said...

Ah, finally....i get to see my dear friend Penny. Thank you so much for putting your pic online!! You are BEAUTIFUL!     Love, lisa jo

Anonymous said...

Such the cutie, you are!  Nice to put a face with the life!  :-)  LOL  Glad to hear you had a good go of things today!
~Miss O
http://journals/aol.com/missboogerhead/MissOsSoapbox/

Anonymous said...

I have only been called once and was given a medical excuse for the next three years. At the time, Daniel was totally tube fed dependent. I live in a county where it is very hard to seat a jury for a number of reasons so folks get called very frequently. Bill has been called once when we first moved here and was excused and he is called again to report in two weeks. He always gets called. For him, his experience serving on a jury and seeing how our judicial system has spiraled into something short of a ridiculous kangaroo court....so sad that our justice system has become like this. It's all about the accused's rights, never mind the victim and all about the plea bargain.....his words after the last trial he was seated on as a jury memeber.
The most infamous jury panel he was interviewd for and excused? The Richard Allen Davis trial. He was excused after he shared what he thought of Davis and what he thought should be done to him.
I applaud you for doing your duty.
BTW, NICE to see you!
Laura

Anonymous said...

Hi Penny doing your civic duty!  I am proud of ya!

Krissy
http://journals.aol.com/fisherkristina/SometimesIThink