I think I was the only one in there who was excited to be there.

I received at least five jury summons while I was in graduate school, but being a student got me out of all of them. That excuse is gone now, so I reported for jury duty today for the first time in my life. From 8:30 to 9:30, I sat in a waiting room while our jury duty emcee, Stephan, instructed us on the pronunciation of his name ("just like Stephanie, without the i-e"), on what we would have to do (wait until the first "roll call" at 9:30), and showed us a video about jury service. It was actually interesting to me, being a first-timer; besides, I was excited to have a day away from the office.

Stephan called me in the first round, at 9:30, and I went down the hall to the court room. I and 39 other people listened to the clerk instruct us some more. Then she swore us in. We stared at the prosecutor and the defendant and his two attorneys. They stared back at us. One of the defense attorneys was a young woman, probably 25; she had a gaze that creeped me out. Thinking back, it was because she never blinked. That scares me. Plus, according to an optometrist I saw once in Seattle, it's bad for your eyes.

Then, just as the judge was supposed to come into the courtroom, and just as we were supposed to learn a little bit about the case, the clerk told the attorneys to meet the judge in the hallway, and she told the court reporter to put her headphones on. Apparently, the hallway is bugged! Upon return, the defense attorney whispered something to his client, and he looked happy in response. Then, we waited some more, and stared at the attorneys some more, and got stared at some more. Finally, the clerk had news for us! We were instructed to call in tomorrow afternoon to find out if we have to come back on Thursday.

I'd had my fingers crossed for a case related to the tree people, but the defendant did not look like he'd been living in a tree recently, so no hope there. Even so, I really really hope I do get called. Keep your fingers crossed for me that my jury duty karma means I'm due.