"Lucky you!," he smirked as he tossed the envelope towards me.
Emblazoned on the front of the envelope were the words, "IMPORTANT--DO NOT DISCARD, Official Jury Summons Enclosed." Hmmmm. It's been about 12 years since the last time I was called to jury duty, so I wasn't terribly surprised. I figured my turn would be coming again one of these days.
However, when I opened the envelope, I noticed the report date was February 13th. What??? That won't work at all. I'm supposed to be administering our Super Duper Hold-The-Phone Really Important State Tests for English Language Learners that week and part of the next. As the only ESL teacher in the building, there is no way I can be out of school those weeks. Ugh!! Double Ugh!! Triple Ugh!!! <sigh.>
As I started scanning the forms I noticed didn't meet any of the non-eligibility requirements. I reside in the county; I've not been convicted of a felony; I am able to communicate in the English language; I am a citizen of the U.S. and I am over the age of 18.
Moving on the second section, "Requests for Excuse", I see eight approved excuses. They are: Medical Reasons; Age; Caregiver to an ill or disabled family member; Sole Proprietor of a Business; Financial Hardship; Childcare Hardship; Students; and Active Duty Military Personnel. Hmmm. None of those apply either.
Nuts! What am I going to do??? Finally, I notice a third section, "Requests for Postponement". (This is new. There was no section like this a decade ago.) Hurrah! Our county now allows a potential juror to postpone their jury commitment for up to three months from the original summons date. I breathed a sigh of relief. I filled out the form and asked to be postponed until May.
You can bet I faxed the form with my postponement request to the Common Pleas Court Jury Commisioner first thing this morning! I will be happy to do my civic duty, but not during Super Duper Hold-The-Phone Really Important State Tests for English Language Learners weeks.
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