So I served jury duty today.  And being me, I found some humor in it, so here goes with a very short account of the day in courts.

The days started at the late hour of 6am.  Usually such an hour would involve skis or something good.  As much as jury duty is a part of our civil duty, it does not beat skiing.  Hate to say it, but it is true.  So, after the 6am alarm, I went down to Government Center, got a caffeinated beverage and promptly got lost searching the marble facades of downtown Boston looking for Suffolk County Superior Court.  So official sounding!

So I arrived and immediately got to stand in a huge line.  Oh bureaucracy.  It never ends.  We got ushered into a very large room outfitted with flat screens, where we were first greeted by a judge.  To herald his arrival, we all had to stand.  Then we watched a video about the history of juries.  To be honest, I just sat there and read my school book, trying to concentrate on that.

Then about an hour later, they called out the jury numbers we had been assigned.  We went to a giant courtroom that reminded me of something out of Law and Order or some other such show.  A couple of gray haired lawyers were gathered, doing what I am sure was very important work.  Then the judge came in.  She seemed like a pretty nice lady, very dedicated to her job.  We were asked questions and I even got to do a sidebar with the judge.  And then I was out of there, the unchosen.

Back to the pool I went.  The jury pool that is and there I stayed for a few more hours waiting.  I think that waiting was the worst, with the prospect of getting called again.  Luckily at 1pm, it was announced that the rest of cases on the docket has plea bargained or settled, so we were free to go.  The bailiff assured us that our presence, all 300 of us, made the judicial system move faster.  I doubt this was true, but actually it wasn’t time wasted.  I got my school work done and that made me happy.

Now I am free for three years.  And I have a good story for the blog.

Let’s celebrate my release from jury duty with a few pictures I took on our court mandated breaks, where we got food and sunlight.  Just kidding.  But we were in that room a very, very, very long time.  Pictures: