Jury Duty - Episode IV

There's something wrong when your blog has a whole category dedicated to "juryduty".  This week is my first adventure for the King County Superior Court in Seattle (though I've done KCSC in Kent twice, as well as Seattle Municipal Court once).  That's not to say I haven't been summoned for this court before, that just happened to be the one I got out of because I had already served recently.  So that makes this Jury Service #4, out of 5 summons in 5 years.

Annoyance number one:  reporting time is 8am.  Of course, I had the privilege of taking public transportation... though getting to the courthouse is fantastically easy.  One bus from door to door is as convenient as things can be, makes me want to work downtown so it could be so simple.  Alas, I think this will be the extent of my use of the #77 North City/Maple Leaf Express.  Now, the annoyance isn't the reporting time itself, 8am is perfectly reasonable, but that means I showed up, along with probably 70% of the jurors, around 7:45am or so.  Of course, nothing actually starts until at least 8:30am, to make up for the 30% of people who can't manage to show up on time.  So WHY DO I BOTHER SHOWING UP EARLY?!  Oh yes, I know... for one of the coveted "good seats" in the Jury Assembly Room.  The ones against the wall, near a power outlet, are most precious.  Very important.  Anyway...

We had the obligatory visit from one of the judges, who read his prepared statement regarding how important Jury Duty is.  And now are watching the fantastic "How to be a Juror" video, which I've seen so many times I don't really pay attention.  One old guy is snoring loudly on the other side of the room (that's how I know he's snoring loudly.)

It is now about 9am.  No indication yet as to what the docket looks like for today.  Maybe this will be a mercifully slow day in the court.  Though somehow I doubt it... I can't be so lucky too many times.  Then again, I'm "lucky" enough to get selected 5 times in 5 years, so maybe I can.

More updates throughout the day...