My day in court

No, it’s not what you think. I got a jury summons. I have to admit, they have it down pat in Travis county; you can go online when you get a summons, answer all the questions, block out the dates you can’t serve during the next couple of months (like while we were in WV) and get assigned to a court on the spot (like the day after we got back from WV). No cattle-call, no 2nd appearance for empaneling. They confirm your assignment with e-mail and like the airlines, urge you to confirm online a couple of days before your appearance. The e-mail business was handy when I got sick in WV and doubted that I would feel like showing up. Handy, but not helpful. If I wasn’t going to show up I would have to call the Judge’s office and plead my case.

There’s no parking within 10 square miles of the courthouse, so they instruct you to go to the park-and-ride at Austin High and catch a ‘Dillo (trolley). That sounds good if you know where that park-and-ride is, but they did a super job of hiding it under a bridge and there was some concern that there would be an APB out for me before I could find it. I did finally locate it and from there it was a simple ride to the courthouse. Well, simple except for the construction delays (downtown Austin is under construction; not just part of it – all of it is under construction!) and the fact that the ‘Dillos have no – repeat – no suspension. Every bump is transmitted directly to the spinal column, accompanied by a loud noise. They are, however, nicely air-conditioned, and you get to sight-see. Hmmm. Another protest group. I wonder what that one's about?

The next challenge was getting through courthouse security. I thought it was a pain to get through an airport with your baggies of liquids and your metal objects in the trays. At the courthouse, you remove everything in your pockets, down to the lint. For a minute I was afraid she was going to make me take off my belt. That would certainly insure a safe environment because I would not be able to make any terrorist threats while trying to hold my pants up.

Up in the courtroom we waited about 30 minutes while clerks and lawyers scuttled through and then the judge came out and said the case was dismissed and we were done and would we like to donate our $6.00 to a good cause (actually, if you get picked and serve you now get $40 a day. That pays better than selling books on Amazon).

Back to the ‘Dillo stop, stand in the 100 degree heat for 15 minutes and hop back on for 30 minutes of air-conditioned spinal adjustment and find yourself back at the courthouse. Who knew? Catch the ‘Dillo on the other side of the street and you only have to have a 10 minute adjustment before you are back at the park-and-ride, refreshed and feeling good about fulfilling your civic responsibility. Is this a great country or what?