the jury is still out

a few weeks ago i spotted on craigslist an ad looking jurors in mock trials and so of course i sent in my resume (don't really know why they would need my resume). i got an email back immediately with a juror application attached.

i had to answer the expected questions, such as: name of employer (i left that blank), education background, state of my birth, had i ever served on a jury - real or mock (no and no), religious affiliation, and if i or anyone in my family had ever worked for an insurance company. it was difficult, but i passed with flying colors.

i got called for (mock) jury duty on tuesday. i received an email telling me where to go, what time to be there, how to dress, etc. the dress code called for business casual (obviously made clear to the woman taking shots of cherry coke in the back of the room dressed in pajama bottoms and crocks).

we were there for a strict four hours, from 9-1 and in that time both lawyers gave their arguments with photos and drawings, stated what witnesses and defendants claimed, and were very polite to each other. we were even allowed to ask questions throughout.

and then we got to deliberate. oh, the pain. a gentleman with drunk hair and a constant 'wait, what?' expression stated several times that he could rationalize and explain the entire situation with a mathematical equation so everyone ignored him. the group passively selected the jury foreperson on the grounds that the forms sat in front of her at the table - but no worries. the hippie who drank tea (i think) out of a mason jar quickly usurped the position. the hippie and pajama lady both thought the entire thing was bullshit and refused to allot any (theoretical) moneys to the plaintiffs, math guy didn't realize that we stopped talking to him and continued on and on, i realized halfway through the deliberation that there was a baby monitor on the refreshments counter along with a video camera recording us, two women talked about the really cute handbags they wanted to buy (but were way too expensive), and on top of it all we ran out of time.

in the end, i went home and forwarded the job post to a friend of mine in case she wanted to give it a shot.