The Joy of Jury Duty

So today, I got to experience the joy that is jury duty. Well, more like 1/3 the joy. If you were to break the process down into three steps, you might have a list like this:

Report to the courthouse

Maybe get your name or group number called, to report to a courtroom

Possibly get selected to be on a jury

Thank goodness I didn’t make it past step one. By lunch time, the articulate woman at the mic was letting us know that “the following of groups have completed their service and can leave”. My group, 2009, was called first. I threw my fist up in the air and grunted in a celebratory fashion, only to make eye contact with some older guy who was still sitting down. “Oops,” I thought, “not polite to gloat”. Fortunately, he was released right after, so I didn’t need to flog myself with guilt.

Some observations about my time this morning. Some apply to any room randomly full of 300 people, too.

Do not arbitrarily forget your leathermen tool in your bag. They will call you on it when it goes through the x-ray. This after I successfully reminded myself via a note to remove my pocketknife from my keychain.
The OC Central Superior Court seems much more organized than, oh say, the DMV.
In a 10 foot radius of bored people, 5 will have iPods (this includes me).
The more diverse the group, the less people like to be heard talking aloud. It was surprisingly quiet.
Cellphone use is not a good idea in the afore mentioned quiet room.
People that don’t look like they’ve read a book in 5 years will bring one to jury duty. I know, looks can be deceiving.
It is not appropriate for people over 45 to have top 10 rap themed ringtones.
Your ringer should be on vibrate. Seriously.

—Mar 22, 2005