by Nicole Ford

Created on: February 23, 2007   Last Updated: April 19, 2007

For some reason I never saw jury duty as such a burden as most do. When I got my summons in the mail I felt oddly empowered. Not realizing, or not caring rather, that the jury selection process is as random as it is. So I go. I read every paper that has been sent to me as if to say "OK Superior Court System I understand". I dress up (kind of). I wake up early and get there promptly at 7:30-ish. When the doors open I file into the room along with my compatriots. Because at this time I feel like that is exactly what they are, my brothers (and sisters) in arms. Obviously my irrationality about jury duty continues on. I fill out some form, depressed that I can now only describe myself as a 19 year old camp counselor. All the while listening to a woman, who has obviously seen her fair share of stupid people in her thrilling career, repeat the same line over and over. "If you have the green paper, step out of the line".

After all necessary paperwork is filled out and handed in, we are to watch a "state mandated" video on the jury selection process. I assume some slow moving narrative about the basics of jury duty with subtitles, but I have a twinkle of hope for a Quentin Tarantino hundred-man fight scene all about the consequences of not taking jury duty seriously. A two minute movie like that would probably get Quentin out of jury duty forever. But I guess that would be too easy. Anyway, I watch the movie and find it surprisingly inspiring. Fully loaded in 5 seemingly short minutes, this movie has it all; history of the jury system, an homage to the great, diverse, state of California, it even has testimonials from former jurors reliving their "life changing" days on the jury. I look around the room expecting to see shared expressions of righteousness, and yet all I find are disinterested faces. Half of which are trying to catch up on their beauty sleep. I quickly change my face to mirror theirs, not wanting to be the outcast. I suddenly feel as if I am on some sort of "Survivor" type reality show. I feel myself begin to stereotype and really size these people up. Who would be the leader? Who would we consider cooking more for their annoying personality than for survival? And most importantly, who would I hook up with? Much to my chagrin the number of under-twenty-five-year-old-looking boys is quite low. Finally, hope appears, he's tall and handsome in a business suit. He couldn't have been a day over twenty-five. Short curly brown hair and piercing blue eyes. He sits next tome, we exchange some formula conversation about the weather and how much it sucked to have to sit there all day. For some reason I find nothing wrong with it now. Suddenly the redundant woman comes back with a new line. Something about postponements, I blame Mr. blue eyes for my forgetfulness, he jumps out of his seat and is quickly filling out paperwork to come back in June.

My dreams of jury duty are all shot to hell now. No one feels at all empowered by being there, my future husband can't see destiny sitting right next to him, and I find out that real courtrooms aren't as brilliantly lit as they are on Law & Order. In fact they are quite bright (fluorescent bright) and there isn't as much yelling as I had hoped for

I think to myself "How could this day get any worse ?" Then I look down at my watch and see the time 10:12 am. Only 6 more hours to go.

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