So the second story took place during finals week of Spring quarter. I had been too busy to realize I was scheduled for jury duty during that week because all my energy was focused on my senior design project. This neglection was a mistake.
The day started off with me realizing I had to call in to see if I was needed at the court. My phone was dead, so I started to scrambling for my phone charger. Turns out I left it in the game lab because I lived there (basically). I had to catch the next bus 20, which was at 11:30am and I had to leave in five minutes. I threw all my school stuff into my backpack and ran off.
I got to the game lab at noon because it takes half an hour to get from my house to campus. I plugged in my phone and called. The recording listed the group numbers that needed to attend the to the court today at 12:30pm. I hadn’t heard my group number yet and there was only one more to go. I was starting to calm down. However, just as my luck goes, the last group number happens to be mine! AH!
I tried to contact my professor and TA but they were busy. So I wrote them an email saying I had jury duty and I wont make it to the final. Kthxsry, but next time.
I start calling people to complain and possibly ask for a car ride, but everyone I knew was out of town or studying for their finals. I had to take the bus, but none were coming! I hadn’t eaten anything, so I left the bus stop and went to the coffee cart in Baskin, grabbing a croissant and chai. It wasn’t until 12:25pm when a bus finally came, but by the time it got downtown it was already 12:45pm and I was late. I was gonna go to jail, I wasn’t going to be able to do my homework I needed to turn in before my final at 4:00pm. To my surprise, a bus 71 was waiting to leave in the next minute and that bus passes by the courthouse. I jumped on, rode for a few minutes, hopped off and there was a fat line of people who were also summoned and didn’t want to be there. They all looked like zombies waiting to feed on flesh. Very unenthusiastic.
I waited and was seated for about 20 minutes. People were broken up into more groups and led to other chambers. My name was called and I had to walk to another room, not knowing when I’d be able to talk to the judge about leaving.
A series of more waiting took place and I was hot-seated, meaning I was chosen to be on the jury. Tons of questioning went on, and eventually it was 4:30pm, half an hour after my final started, and I was finally able to talk to the judge without interupting. I told him I had a final and he said, “Oh, well we dont want to waste your quarter’s worth of learning for nothing. You are excused.”
Then I left.
And I ran.
And I came to class a bit after 5:00pm, getting dirty looks from my classmates. Coming in late, who do I think I am? I went to the front and told the professor what happened because apparently he didn’t get my email. He said it was okay, had a concerned look like he wanted me to calm down, and told me I could have extra time to complete it. He was super nice about it, luckily. I finished my exam half an hour before the end of the time period allowed, before 85% of the class. I turned it in with my unfinished homework and appologized again for being late. The professor seemed to like me, hah.
Turns out everything was okay, but just stressful… like Chris said. I ended up getting an A+ in the class.
A note to all you potential jurers of the future: make sure your schedule is planned around your summon date. Lots of times you don’t have to attend, but make sure you plan for the worst case scenerio.
