Wasted time

Jury duty this morning was a bust. I arrived a few minutes early, and thank goodness I did, because magistrate court was no longer in the same location as last time. They sent me to the older federal building across the street. After driving over there, struggling to find parking (I ended up having to use a nearby parking garage) and finally arriving, hot and sweaty, the security guy stopped me at the door and told me I was in the wrong place......AGAIN. He told me to walk back outside and the correct building would be on my left. 

So I walked out and turned to the left and there was....nothing there. Frustrated, I saw a city maintenance worker and asked him where I was supposed to be, and it turns out the last guy should have told me to take a right, then a left. Damn it! More walking...

Once I got to the right place (finally!) the security lady at the door stopped me and told me I'd have to take my purse back to my car and leave it there. Apparently, handbags of any kind are no longer allowed in the courtroom. It seems like a ridiculous rule to me, considering that you have to go through metal/weapon detectors either way. Besides that, there was nothing in the jury summons that mentioned the new rule. But the security person was adamant, so I had no choice but to traipse back to the parking garage, lock up my purse, and then walk back again. By this time, I was so sweaty I could almost wring the moisture out of my hair. I was also 10 minutes late. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper!

All that trouble, and after a half hour or so the judge came out and said that all the cases in front of him had just been settled, and that we were free to go. 

Arghh!!!

Of course I'm glad I don't have jury duty after all, but it sure felt like a huge waste of my time, and a giant hassle. At least it was still early, not quite 10:00, and I had the day off in front of me. I called my friend Paulette (she's retired) and asked if she'd like to meet up for a cup of coffee. She invited me over to her house for coffee instead, and I went and we passed a couple of pleasant hours chatting. The morning ended better than it began.

This was the second time I've been pulled for jury duty recently. The first time (back in May, I think) the clerk of court called the Friday before and told me court was canceled the next week. This time, the cases got settled before a jury needed to be picked. I sincerely hope they'll take my name out of rotation for a good long while, now! Enough is enough!