Jury Duty Day Two

Monday June 13th 2005 10:07 PM PST

So today i got down to the court building at 10:30 just to be told that we were excused until 1:30. I had taken the train, so now i was stuck downtown with 3 hours to blow. Well fuck that. I jumped back on the train to go home. I had just enough time to sit down, make lunch and check mail briefly before jumping back on the train. So at 1:30 i sat there and tried to say something to the court clerk. I didn't get a word to her. Instead i ended up sitting through very dramatic "non-opening" statements, that turned to be nothing more than opening statements. The judge had asked for a quick rundown of the case before Jury selection continued. Instead the lead counsel for both sides took the opportunity to test out their opening arguments. Objections were raised only to have the judge laugh, "I though i asked for a QUICK statement. Can we please get this moving?" So finally after an hour and a half of this, the judge called a recess. I cornered the clerk, and told her about my situation. Originally I had thought my company would compensate me for up to 10 days of jury duty. This case was going to run long, but i figured i could suck up the rest of the money I would lose. But when i went to work on Friday, the court day off, i asked Justin about compensation. He replied with the bottom line. The company does not compensate at all for jury duty. So now i'm screwed. I can't afford to be away from work for that much time. After the recess, we sat back down in the courtroom. The judge finally addressed me, and asked about my situation. I explained what was going on and he quickly excused me to go back to the jury waiting room. There i sat waiting for another possible panel for a shorter case. Nothing came up, and i was excused for the day. I jumped back on the train and headed home.