the citizen

I have jury duty on Thursday. This will be my first time serving in Brooklyn, the last time I got called I was still living in Manhattan. I ended up getting called in for jury selection on two different cases but not selected for either, I think in one case I started ranting about the Rockefeller laws, in the other I said something about entrapment, and was summarily dismissed from both with no fuss. In the end, I was there for 2 and a half days, mostly spent reading a book cover to cover, Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon. It was the perfect length, I read the last page about 30 minutes before we were told that we had served our duty. All in all, it wasn't a big deal, and the upside was the long lunch breaks and proximity to Chinatown. But this time no Chinatown, so it could definitely suck worse. I also heard that you aren't supposed to wear jeans for jury duty, is that true? Cause that sucks. Why does that matter? If you end up on a jury, aren't you sitting in the jury box where they probably can't see your legs anyway? I really need to figure out what book will get me through it and what restaurant will have the best lunch. I guess at least there's a Barnes & Noble right near there for when they give us 90 minutes for lunch and it only takes 20 minutes to eat.

When I first got the summons, I was dreading jury duty, but now I actually feel ambivalent about it. I've never been selected for a jury and I must admit that I'm pretty curious, although I'd much rather get selected for a criminal case than a civil case. To be honest, the thing I'm really dreading isn't so much the jury part as the fact that I have to be there at 8:30 AM. I don't even get up at 8:30 AM...