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08/14/2002 entry: "Post-jury duty"

Well! What a day.

So, I went to jury duty, and was nervous as all hell on the way over. It's the whole "new situation" thing. Well, when I finally got in the building and everything, I had to ask where to go, and then I went and sat in a room for a while. About 9:15am, they showed this really dumbed down video about being a juror. I swear on the spiders that may or may not live on my car, they actually felt the need to explain who everyone in the courtroom is, and the trial process.

Like:
"This is the judge. They sit at the front of the room."
"This is the bailiff. He's there to keep order." [bailiff stands with arms crossed]
"This is the court reporter. They type everything that's said"
"These are the attorneys." Etc etc.

And in explaining the trial, (as if everyone hasn't seen one on TV at one time or another) they actually felt it was necessary to point out that the attorneys might be (shock! :gasp:) LYING. What? Yes.
"Remember, the attorney is not actually testifying, and is not a witness (a term they explain earlier, for those who live in a cave). They are trying to convince you of their view of the case."

NO! Really?

Anyhow, it was a hoot and a half.

I sat around for about an hour and a half reading/staring into space. Then I decided to get coffee. Now, I have never used a coffee vending machine before, so I was a little confused. It said two things on it: You can use your own cup, or one of theirs; And that you had to put the cup in before selecting. I was confused, because there were no cups lying around by the machine. So, I temporarily gave up and let this older man in back of me go ahead. I explained to him I didn't know how they worked. He turned out to have a delightful Irish accent, and explained that the cups did in fact drop down from INSIDE the machine. Ha, duh. So that was nice.

Then at 11am, the woman who announces everything announced that the two cases they had lined up for today had been settled and that we all got to go home with our checks for $17.20. Sweet. That's more than I've ever made for two hours of anything in my life. Yay.

So, it wasn't all bad. I left early and hung out with Kevin all the rest of the day. Awesome.