Jury Duty Minutiae

I survived jury duty today at the Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn.

I was assigned juror #129 of...wait for it...129 people! Whee!

It was incredibly boring.

This is always an exercise in futility for me, because even if I get to the latter stages of the process, I never get impaneled, thanks to my long tenure with one of the major law firms in New England. Which is fine with me, but makes it an incredibly wasted day. But I try to soak in the details and feel virtuous for doing my civic duty.

They do allow laptops now, but I decided not to lug mine out there. I passed the time by reading. I made it through TV Guide, the Sunday comics, Parade Magazine and The Boston Globe magazine! I also passed time keeping track of what went on when, looking for possible lessons for next time. Don't click unless you have a morbid fascination for the minutiae of jury service in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts...home of the "one day or one trial" system.

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So I am off the hook for three years.

Remember for next time.
- Take your laptop! It will make it way less boring.
- Take reading materials also, for when they make you turn stuff off.
- Charge your phone the night before.
- Take LOTS of bottled water. And cough drops. The place is very dry inside.
- Take snacks. No food there other than odd pricy vending machines or 3 shops 1 building over.
- Woburn is not bad other than being 13 miles away - easy to find, right off the hwy, free parking, modern
- Moving your date to a Friday makes the traffic lighter, but still leave 2x more time than Google says
- Yes, they make you get there at 8 am when they won't call anyone until 10 am. That's just the way it is.
- Smile at the court officers and say thank you. It will surprise and delight them.