My jury post continued...

Since I love game theory, I thought jury selection was pretty interesting.  As far as I could tell, the plaintiff was looking to stack the jury with old/retired people (since this might hit closer to home).  And no!  I do not count as "old."  And the defense was looking to get rid of the women (who I suppose can be more sentimental).  Over half the jury looked like they were of retirement age,and 7 out of 8 were men.  So if you like stuff like fantasy football, you may like trying to pick a jury.

We start off with about 75 prospective jurors.  Then all the weasels give their lame excuses as to why they can't serve on the jury (see below) for a civil trial guaranteed to last no more than 4 days.  Apparently, "plane ticket" is the "no questions asked" way to go.  Then anyone who has any detailed information on how the nursing or hospital system works (and has any opinions) is excused.  So you're basically left with a bunch of clueless people on the jury.  Obviously, I fit right into the "clueless" category.  We are left with 28 people.  Then both sides have a limited number of people they have objections to and the remaining 19 people are fed into a machine that picks the final 8 for the jury at random.  The last time I served in the jury selection process (which was in NYS) I don't remember that "randomizing" part, but I suppose every jurisdiction has their own methods.

Getting back to the "weasels," I realize your boss is going to get on your case if you don't find some way to get off of jury duty.  But think about it.  You're a citizen of one of the greatest countries in the world, and all they ask you to do is: register for selective service when you turn 18, pay your share of taxes, and serve on jury duty once every few years (at most).  That does not seem to be a ridiculously burdensome list of things to ask its citizens to do.  C'mon man!

And it turns out they pay me $40 a day for jury duty and 51 cents a mile for travel.  I live 30 miles away, so let's say I pocket $50 after gas and
wear and tear.  That's like $7 an hour.  That's almost as good as burger flipping... Anyway, seems like a good gig if you're making minimum wage or are unemployed.  Or a really *bad* rakeback pro.  I may be a rakeback pro, but I'm damn good at it!