Day Off

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be dismissed early, if not right away.

Not because I don't want to fulfill my civic duty: I do. I think that next to voting, participating in jury duty is something that makes living in our society civilized. We should be able to be judged fairly by our peers.

I hope the case is an exciting one: one that is of a high profile, receives news coverage. I wouldn't be able to write about it, of course, not until it's over, if even at all. But it would be great to be a part of an important part of the justice system.

If it's a simple case or dull (I'm thinking some petty, blue-collar crime), I'll be so disappointed.

But I'm hoping that I can report to the Ontario court house early and either be accepted and told of the next court date, or be rejected or told I'm not needed, and be sent on my way.

This is the fourth time that I've been summoned as a juror. The first time, the letter had been sent to the wrong address—to my parents' place, when I wasn't living there. As I was made to understand, if the letter had any error, there was no obligation to show. Being in my early 20s, I wasn't interested and so I treated the letter as though I had never received it, as if my parents hadn't passed it on. My driver's license was proof that I didn't live at that address.

The second summons did come to the right address, but before the court date approached, I received a second letter that told me my attendance was not required.

The third summons brought me into the court house on the date, but as I sat outside the courtroom a bailiff approached me (or some other court official), thanked me for showing up, and said that I wouldn't need to attend. No reason was given, so I thought that perhaps the accused had changed his or her plea to guilty.

So this is my fourth call and I'm hoping that the meeting is short or non-existent.

I've already booked the day off from work, will get paid whether I'm there or not. It would be nice to have a day to myself, where I can explore downtown on a weekday, where I can maybe photograph various parts that I've always wanted to shoot but didn't have the time during the day.

I'm already committed to being in the Glebe in the evening. I have a class that I just started, last week, and I can take some time to do my assignment, to get caught up on other writing that I've wanted to do but have had more-pressing priorities.

Tomorrow, no matter what happens, I have a day off. With any luck, I'll be able to take full advantage of it.