Houdenbako Blog

We Pronounce the Potential Juror... Excited!

Once inside the beautiful Moultrie courthouse - the lobby reminds me of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum more than anything else - there is Juror check-in: we line up to have the clerk note our presence and slip the paper rectangle from our summons into a plastic badge. Next, it's over to the Juror's Lounge: A large hall with multiple television screens mounted on the ceiling, and not enough chairs for everybody. For people who don't want to watch random segments of the movies playing all day (Ken Burns' Baseball, and was that While You Were Sleeping when I poked my head in around lunch time?), there is a "Quiet Room" with a conference table and about twenty chairs. This year I noticed two things taht had changed in my seven year absence: All the TV screens are now flat, and the quiet room is called the "Business Center" (Now with free Wi-Fi!). Had I known, I might have brought my laptop. Some other peope did.

After I started wondering if there was no longer a an orientation lecture, a young woman emerged from a "Not An Exit" door to interrupt a reminiscence on Casey Stengel and pop in a video that was extremely difficult to read - I think the edges of the letter graphics on the standard-def video were being shredded by the hi-def monitors. No matter: A voice read the whole thing out loud. We learned too late what we shouldn't bring to the courthouse, where we could park; that we should arrive by public transportation, and how we would be paid from a specialized ATM in the hallway. At the end of the video there was a silence of several minutes before our hostess returned to repeat much of what what we heard and contradict the rest. For one thing, because of a new computer system we would get a check in the mail, not draw it from the specialized ATMs since they hadn't been synced to the new system yet.

With all these administrative details covered, she asked us if we were excited... When the crowd - how many of them are paying attention in the first place? - mutters a lukewarm sentiment, she actually says "Fine. Maybe I don't want to be here either." It seemed in poor taste to me, but others saw the humor in it, and so on the second try she coaxed a few degrees more enthusiasm out of us. But, I was left thinking: "You have a choice - you can work somewhere more exciting if you really want, but we're stuck here. For us this is a duty. It's even printed right there on the summons: Jury Duty".