Can there ever be a more wasted day in your life then being called for jury duty? LoL. I know,I know,it's an important part of being a citizen in the good old USA but can't they do something to make it less....what's the word I'm looking for....time consuming? It's the one day that you get to spend behind bars while the defendant stands out in the hall.

My first summons appeared when I was 19. Waaaay back then you had to serve for 2 weeks,lol! I don't know how I did it. One day now is excrutiating. Thank God they changed that,here in California at least. If you don't get picked to be on a jury that first day you're free to go. They can't bother you for the next 18 months. But bother me they do. On average I've been summoned every 2 to 3 years....UGH!  It feels nice to be so loved....NOT!

I knew my time was coming. Yep,there it is! Last service was in 2011. I can just about set my watch to it. 

The summons envelope arrived about a month ago and so I reported to duty this past Monday. Same old drill. Bad movies playing in the lounge...something with Rock being a "Bad Daddy" and Robin Williams in a motor home. Wasn't really paying much attention. I was "people watching" instead. Some creepy guy eyeing this young girl up and down who was sitting next to him at one of the desk stations where people can use their laptops. EWWW! Another girl on a laptop with a headset on staring intently at the screen. Every once in awhile she'd mumble quietly into the mouthpiece....things like..."sandmich....sandmich....el-ahsh...el-ahsh" I'll admit,THAT made me curious. And here I thought she was some kind of telemarketer or landing planes. ODD!

Then there were the "readers" (which I was TRYING to do but is almost impossible with all the commotion around you.) That's why I brought a large print Harlequin Romance because I knew there would be no "serious" reading accomplished that day,lol. Everytime I'd go to read the first line of Chapter 1, a tittering roar of laughter would burst out from the...ahem...white-haired group of people watching Rock dig into a huge plate of spaghetti or getting squirted with something. I smiled more watching them then at the movie...cute! 

Tap! Tap! Tap! The ladies who are in charge kept tapping on the microphone before they made an announcement. It's really to wake you up, I think.

"Just to give you a heads up....We have 3 panels we'll be calling this morning...we're just waiting to hear from the courtrooms." Blah blah blah.

I have a little trick I do. Don't know if it's "foolproof" but it HAS worked the last 2 times I've been on jury duty. When they start calling out names from the lottery pool I start saying to myself..."no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no..." They call in alphabetical order and when it gets near my last name I REALLY turn it on and say it a little louder (only in my head,mind you...lol) "NO,NO,NO,NO,NO,NO.." And,hey,it worked! Didn't get chosen at all on Monday. Try it next time you're summoned :)

I still wish they could do something about the wasted time,though. There must have been 400 people there. That's a lot of twiddling thumbs. They called about 5 panels all day...about 20 people each time so...what? That's really only about 100 people they needed. You'd think they'd have some kind of idea how many trials would be going on but they never seem to. And it never changes in all the 20+ years I've been. The jury lounge even looks exactly the same! Someone really needs to improve the magazine section. Please! Not everyone is interested in golf. 

So what did I learn while doing my civil duty? Men read Stephen King and murder mystery thrillers. Women read Nora Roberts and Tami Hoag. Men are more quiet but Women love to TEXT CONSTANTLY!! This society we live in is something else,I tell ya. In the "old days" I remember striking up a lot of conversations with people sitting around me. It was fun way to pass the time. Now everyone is so into themselves and their little screens. It's really pathetic. I don't even have a cellphone and like it that way! 

I guess the day was really "summed up" when this older Oriental man with ipod headphones in his ears happened to turn around smiling and said "This is the most boring day of my life!"  I gotta "lottolaughs" out of that one. Well said,sweetie. Made my day! 

Signing out now....until 2015. This is one lottery I wouldn't mind losing for a change!