Got a summons for jury duty from the county. For years I was exempt because of the length of my military service, but I guess they were having trouble getting warm bodies to show up. So they changed the laws and now I can be ordered to participate in non-criminal cases.
Not that I really object all that much. I have zero empathy with the notion of civic duty, but I’ll play by the rules and laws as much as I can simply because it will be an adventure. Who knows what God will bring forth from this? Meanwhile, I get to ride my bicycle just under 20 miles one way to the courthouse early in the morning. If they actually put me to work, I’ll be riding back and forth every day until it’s over.
I’ve already harassed the courthouse folks by email. I wanted know where I could park my bike. They have their own designated bike rack right up next to the courthouse where security can see it. And though they have a TSA-like security entrance to the building, they told me I could schlep my lunch and riding gear through. There’s no way I could afford to eat out in that part of the city; it would cost more than the paltry $20/day they offer jurors. Besides, it’s awfully hard to find food on my weird diet anywhere close to the courthouse.
It will be interesting to see what kind of folks I encounter there.
The only real drawback is that it will clobber my workout schedule for as long as it lasts. I can compensate for short periods using the high tension workout method, but it’s not the same.
What really surprised me is how little information there is on what it’s like to be a juror for Oklahoma County. The courthouse website is very sparse and there are broken links all over the place. Apparently they did some renovation on the site and never bothered to check all the pages on the site map. At any rate, it is the sort of thing that folks should be able to read about, so I guess it will be up to me. I can’t take my laptop, but I should be able to describe the process without divulging anything that is supposed to stay under wraps.
That will be about the end of the month, so stay tuned if you are curious.
