My brief time as juror #3
So I went down to the courthouse today for jury duty, wishing yet again that security measures would let me bring along my knitting so I could keep working on ye olde Christmas crafting. I brought a Margaret Maron book instead, which I read from start to finish while I was there, which tells you something about how short the book was, how fast I read, and how long I was there.
I've been pretty lucky when it comes to jury duty, though I keep getting called way more often than Phaed, for reasons we have yet to determine. I've even been summoned for federal district court, though that was a pain in the patoot because we couldn't make weekend plans for about 2 months while my term was active. However, despite all the jury summons, I'd yet to be required to go anywhere until today. Today I had a 1-day stint in JP district 5, which kinda pleased me because work is moderately insane right now so being away from work would make me extra fidgety, but more importantly ... JP district 5 is where Phaed and I got married 14 years ago. So coming back to the courthouse naturally brought back some warm 'n fuzzy memories, even though another JP's name was now on the JP5 office.
I spent the first hour or so at a little table just outside the small cafeteria. I got a candy bar and a Diet Coke from the nearby vending machine. Unfortunately I'd punched the wrong button so I'd gotten a caffeine-free Diet Coke, and since I hadn't slept well last night, I could've used the brain juice. After I finished with the candy bar and the soda, I wandered back up towards the JP5 office and parked myself on one of the benches. I split my time between people-watching and reading. A courthouse is a good place for people-watching, and this particular courthouse is a pretty brisk sort of place, with people bustling about or strolling through the halls.
About half an hour before the designated reporting time, I decided I wanted to go ahead and check in, so I checked in and got my juror tag, which I promptly clipped to the collar of my polo shirt. I was juror #3, which meant I got to be third in line when we were finally called to assemble and then made our way to the little courtroom where Phaed and I had gotten married. They've repainted the walls since then, and it was a pretty cheery-looking place. Two attorneys were sitting together at one table, and another attorney at the opposite table, and we filed in behind them.
The baliff called out, "All rise!" when the judge came in ... and she was definitely not Judge Herb Evans. My first thought was, "Wait ... how many petite redheaded judges can there be?" Then she swapped out the name plate on the bench. Sure enough. It was Judge Jade Meeker. I hadn't recognized her at first because her hair was longer and she was wearing glasses this time around, but she was still the twinkle-eyed Texas pixie I remembered from 14 years ago. I couldn't help it--I broke out into a huge grin.
Unfortunately, that was about it for my time as juror #3. Apparently our services were not going to be required after all, so we were released. Judge Meeker thanked us all for our willingness to perform our civic duty, and reminded us that we'd be paid "a whopping four dollars!" for our time today. (I'd previously signed the form donating my pay to the Travis County Child Welfare fund.) She also added that if by some chance we'd gotten a parking ticket for attending, this was "the one time I can fix a ticket for you."
(I really wanted to approach the bench and tell Judge Meeker, "I know you don't remember me, but that marriage you officiated at 14 years ago is still going strong." But I was good and didn't.)
So I went back and put in about half a day's work. I could've lived without having to go in in the first place, but seeing Judge Meeker was a nice little bonus. After all, we have an anniversary coming up next week.
I've been pretty lucky when it comes to jury duty, though I keep getting called way more often than Phaed, for reasons we have yet to determine. I've even been summoned for federal district court, though that was a pain in the patoot because we couldn't make weekend plans for about 2 months while my term was active. However, despite all the jury summons, I'd yet to be required to go anywhere until today. Today I had a 1-day stint in JP district 5, which kinda pleased me because work is moderately insane right now so being away from work would make me extra fidgety, but more importantly ... JP district 5 is where Phaed and I got married 14 years ago. So coming back to the courthouse naturally brought back some warm 'n fuzzy memories, even though another JP's name was now on the JP5 office.
I spent the first hour or so at a little table just outside the small cafeteria. I got a candy bar and a Diet Coke from the nearby vending machine. Unfortunately I'd punched the wrong button so I'd gotten a caffeine-free Diet Coke, and since I hadn't slept well last night, I could've used the brain juice. After I finished with the candy bar and the soda, I wandered back up towards the JP5 office and parked myself on one of the benches. I split my time between people-watching and reading. A courthouse is a good place for people-watching, and this particular courthouse is a pretty brisk sort of place, with people bustling about or strolling through the halls.
About half an hour before the designated reporting time, I decided I wanted to go ahead and check in, so I checked in and got my juror tag, which I promptly clipped to the collar of my polo shirt. I was juror #3, which meant I got to be third in line when we were finally called to assemble and then made our way to the little courtroom where Phaed and I had gotten married. They've repainted the walls since then, and it was a pretty cheery-looking place. Two attorneys were sitting together at one table, and another attorney at the opposite table, and we filed in behind them.
The baliff called out, "All rise!" when the judge came in ... and she was definitely not Judge Herb Evans. My first thought was, "Wait ... how many petite redheaded judges can there be?" Then she swapped out the name plate on the bench. Sure enough. It was Judge Jade Meeker. I hadn't recognized her at first because her hair was longer and she was wearing glasses this time around, but she was still the twinkle-eyed Texas pixie I remembered from 14 years ago. I couldn't help it--I broke out into a huge grin.
Unfortunately, that was about it for my time as juror #3. Apparently our services were not going to be required after all, so we were released. Judge Meeker thanked us all for our willingness to perform our civic duty, and reminded us that we'd be paid "a whopping four dollars!" for our time today. (I'd previously signed the form donating my pay to the Travis County Child Welfare fund.) She also added that if by some chance we'd gotten a parking ticket for attending, this was "the one time I can fix a ticket for you."
(I really wanted to approach the bench and tell Judge Meeker, "I know you don't remember me, but that marriage you officiated at 14 years ago is still going strong." But I was good and didn't.)
So I went back and put in about half a day's work. I could've lived without having to go in in the first place, but seeing Judge Meeker was a nice little bonus. After all, we have an anniversary coming up next week.