Fingers Crossed

I got summoned for jury duty on Tuesday.  I know selection for jury duty is supposed to be completely random, but I’m starting to think the almighty powers that be are picking on me.  Since 2002 (for those of you keeping score at home), I think I’ve been summoned at least five or six times, one of those times resulting in me getting stuck on a trial that dragged on for about a month.  Why do you hate me so, jury duty gods?  Why do you continuously pick on me nearly every year?  Can’t you take pity on me just this once?

Since the last time I got a jury duty summons, my county’s court system has finally gotten high tech and has a pretty decent looking website where you can check your status the night before you’re supposed to report at the courthouse.  You can even submit your excuses online.  Fancy! 

On your summons, you’re given a group number, and the night before, you can sign on and enter the number and see whether you have to report the next day or not.  Because I’m a ginormous nerd, for the last week I’ve been keeping an eye on that site and seeing whether people with my group number have had to go in.  Most have gotten placed on telephone standby and eventually get dismissed.

I’ll know for sure on Monday evening, but if it comes time for me to check my status and my group is the one group who actually has to report on Tuesday, I’m definitely going to suspect someone is picking on me.