Warrant for My Arrest

I forgot to go to jury service last week.

I realized this on Friday evening, when a jury summons arrived in the mail for Will, which reminded me that Oh Holy Hell, I was supposed to be at jury service this week myself.

Now, I am a pretty responsible gal. I mean, I put things on my calendar and remember to attend the things I sign up to attend. Even when there are things I don't want to do, I mostly do them anyway. And, really, I'd already been to jury service, a few weeks prior, and I sat in the jury room and met the judge and drank the free coffee they put out for prospective jurors. There was a chance that that trial would run right into my Mexico trip, however, so the kind judge excused me for the week and I was rescheduled to attend. Rescheduled to last week. And I completely forgot to go.

Of course, I realized this after the jury office closed for the week, so I spent the whole weekend wondering what might happen to me. I did a search on the Internet and discovered a wide range of possibilities, from nothing at all happening to jail time or a hefty fine. My friend Mary and I decided that between jail time and a fine, I should take the jail time. At least I would have something to blog about. There's not too much to say about writing a check for $2500, but I am sure that there would be plenty to say about a night or two in the slammer, no?

So, I made the decision. Jail time it would be, if given the choice, mainly for your entertainment but also because, damn, $2500 is a lot of cash. Of course, $2500 is an amount that I made up--I have no idea if this is the actual fine a person who missed jury service would be required to pay--but hey! I had a whole 60 hours to create various, wild scenarios that included $2500 fines and warrants for my arrest and hanging out in my cell with finally enough time to get through this month's Vanity Fair.

Alas, I called jury service this morning and, wouldn't you know it? My jury group had been cancelled altogether and I was excused from service for the rest of the year--an anti-climatic finish, if ever there was one. But! If ever you doubt my devotion to you, dear friends, particularly during times when I don't post for a week or fail to return an email promptly, just know this: I almost went to jail for you. Almost.

Comments

[Hope]

But would you have shanked someone for us?

[connie]

phew! that was kind of a close call. if i were you, i would have already been planning survival strategies for dealing with the jail time.