Jury Duty

About a month ago I received the ever so dreaded juror summons notice and, like most people, I was so not excited about the prospect of getting chosen for jury duty. I was instructed to call in last Friday to find out if I needed to show up Monday morning. Low and behold, my juror number was selected, so Monday morning I found myself heading to Boulder to report.

When I walked into the room there was a face that I recognized, it was my high school locker partner! I haven't seen her since I graduated. What are the chances that I would run into her at jury duty? It was crazy, but very cool. We got to spend some time catching up which was awesome...and very helpful for passing time.

Long story short, I ended up "making it through" the juror selection process and was selected to serve on the 6 person jury. To be honest, I really wasn't upset. Yes, it was a bit of a pain coordinating people to help watch Cameron at the last minute, but it was really cool to be part of the whole process. (I think that it helped that the case was only scheduled to last 1-3 days. I'm pretty sure I would be singing a different tune if it had been a case schedule for 6 weeks or something long like that.)

The case wasn't very exciting. It was a civil suit, a small ambulance chaser type car accident deal, and we were responsible for determining damages owed to the plaintiff (the guy suing). The most difficult part of the whole thing was deciding what dollar amount should be attached to the "emotional stress, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life" that the guy experienced due to the accident. Seriously, how can you really determine that?

Somehow we were able to come to a decision and, after two days, the case concluded. It was definitely an interesting experience. I learned a lot and fulfilled my civic duty for the next year (which is probably a good thing considering serving on a jury would be a little tricky while nursing a new little baby).