Jury Duty

Off I went on Monday morning to jury duty.  Last time I had jury duty was 15+ years ago in DC and I was in and out in 2 hours with check in hand BUT NOT THIS TIME.  The room was full to overflowing.  Court started at 10 AM and the first 45 people were called (1-45) and I am #262 so I settle in for a long wait.  At 11:30 we were told that all four cases on the docket had settled and my heart skipped a fast beat in anticipation of leaving soon and having some shopping fun on Rockville Pike.

At 12:00 names were called randomly to be dismissed and that is when I found out that Montgomery County has an instant jury thing going on.  Means that a case in the lower court can ask for a jury trial which is kicked to the higher court (us) so some of us would be sitting in anticipation of being called for a case from the lower court.  As she called the numbers I was really happy until I heard the dreaded 262!  Just to check I asked in a cheerful voice, "does that mean I have to come back" and she replied in an even happier voice "yes, we will see you after lunch".  The smile quickly left my voice and my face as I trudged out of the room.  Lunch, mind you, is from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM.  At 2 PM she entered the room and told us to have a seat and begin the wait.  Wait we did until 4 PM and I was so happy to leave then I almost ran to the door but I did remember to get my check ($15 minus my contribution of $5 to the generous juror fund for abused children).

The waiting is bad enough but going through the metal detectors (turn on all electronic devices and for me that is the Palm, the cell and the Nook) and take off my belt.  At lunch time I forgot to get my belt so after reaching the cafeteria (thank goodness I brought my lunch so no money spent there) I had to go back upstairs to get it.  Didn't realize that after entering the cafeteria and leaving you have to go through the metal detector again - enough is enough - I will not leave that room again except to go to the bathroom.

A whole afternoon of playing Angry Birds and I guess I was so frustrated that I was winning because I felt like I wanted to knock something off so better the pigs in the game than somebody.

Well, the day ended on a good note because that evening I went to a cooking demo at Whole Foods and was treated to pan roasted tilapia, couscous with almonds, raisins, parsley and chives and a peach crisp - delicious and again Chef Egg pulled off a fabulous meal.

I tell you it takes us seniors a while to get over the weekend and here it is Tuesday and I am still tired.