Jury Duty

I'm not going to work tomorrow. Instead, for $10 for the day plus mileage, I'll likely be sitting in a jury box, doing some kind of note-taking, deliberating or, if the trial is boring, a little sleeping. Maybe not that last one, sure.

I have mixed feelings about the experience. It'll be interesting to see things from the inside of a courtroom, but I have no illusions that it'll be anything like what they show on television. It'll be plodding, deliberative, and very likely boring.

Part of me wonders if I shouldn't try to get out. I understand if you're the sole income-earner, sometimes they let you off. But as I'm a quasi federal employee, there's likely not much sympathy there. I'm hoping, however, that this will be some kind of selection process tomorrow rather than a trial and that I'm rejected for some kind of technicality. I've been brushing up on my Federalist Papers and, if that doesn't work, I'll try the ploy a former Hispanic boss said he'd use -- he said he'd tell everyone there that he hated white people. That might not be as effective a ploy for me, however.

So tonight I plan to beef up on my jury persona by watching "Ernest Goes to Jail." It should be most enlightening. Anybody got a leaky pen?