my take on it

So I have jury duty this week (even though I'm not registered to vote). It really, really sucks. So I had to get up at the butt crack of dawn so I could get myself to downtown LA by 7:30am. And for all you LA people, you know what traffic is like trying to get downtown. Then, I sat there waiting to get called into some case until 11:00-ish. Then, when I'm finally called, they decide that it would be fun to send us elsewhere. Yay. Then I got to drag myself over to the West LA court in Santa Monica. Great FUN! (are you sensing the sarcasm?) First, I had lunch with my sister and her co-workers since she works about five blocks away from the court. Afterwards, I headed over to the Santa Monica court. According to the directions, the parking lot for the jurors is off of Butler from Santa Monica Blvd. I drove up and down Butler, but could find no parking lot. So then I found a residential area, parked there, and walked over to the court. I entered the main building as I there was no directions as to where to go. After going through the usual security checkpoint (similar to the one at airports), I am informed that I was supposed to go to Trailer 1. That's right. You heard me folks. TRAILER 1. I proceeded back outside but still had no idea where I was going. Then I saw it. It was a dingy looking bungalow with a small, yellow "1" painted on the outside. Lovely. I went inside and was told that there was a delay, so that I should just wait. Around 2:30-ish, the clerk tells us that one of the two cases that needs to be tried had been settled, so thirty people could return home and call their jury duty served. Of course, unlucky as I am, I had to stay. So around 3:15-ish, they finally call us in. So there are thirty of us and only fourteen are needed to serve on the jury (twelve on the jury, two alternates). When we get in, they call 21 people to sit in the jury box and in the area in the front of the court. Yep. I'm one of the nine still in the audience. After everybody is seated, the judge tells us it's too late to begin the selection process, so they want us all to return tomorrow at 10:30am. Great great great. What a complete and utter waste of a day. Sigh.