Jury Duty
I come home one day last week, and what is in my box? Jury Duty.
For those of you who have never served jury duty, it is probably the WORST institution ever created.
Let me put it in simple terms....
You get the "priveledge" of trying a case of some miscreant as a duty to the legal process.
You also get the "priveledge" of being compensated barely enough to pay for the gas to get to the court house, and this depends on the local, some dont pay you anything.
You could possibly be at one of these cases for days on end, depending on the circumstances. In that case, the local may raise your "compensation" slightly. Of course the definition of slightly is "hardly more then you would make for 8 hours at a minumum wage job".
What do you give up for these "priveledges"?
Well, if you work for an employer like mine who "believes you should serve your civic duty, and therefore graciously provides unpaid leave". You get to donate a whole days pay, for every single day, your service is required. In my case, I make about 4 times more a day then the court will "compensate" me. Being the primary wage earner in my home, I could serve exactly 4 days on the jury until bills start going unpaid for the month. I can only imagine someone who only makes twice, or is the sole wage earner. They probably couldnt afford even one day of this garbage.
Does the government give a damn? No, not really. Does your employer? Hell no.
BUT, I do have an alternative.
My company will allow me to place my vacation days in place of jury days. So, I wont technically "lose" money in this case, I will actually benefit. The only thing is, I get to spend my vacation days sitting in a court room.
What if I didnt have any days? What if I had already used them? What if Im on a case that extends past my available vacation days?
Does the government give a damn? No, not really. Does your employer? Hell no.
After all, no price is too high to involuntarily serve your "civic duty", including loss of home, repossession of any number of items, loss of utilities, or starvation.
Go forth patriots!
For those of you who have never served jury duty, it is probably the WORST institution ever created.
Let me put it in simple terms....
You get the "priveledge" of trying a case of some miscreant as a duty to the legal process.
You also get the "priveledge" of being compensated barely enough to pay for the gas to get to the court house, and this depends on the local, some dont pay you anything.
You could possibly be at one of these cases for days on end, depending on the circumstances. In that case, the local may raise your "compensation" slightly. Of course the definition of slightly is "hardly more then you would make for 8 hours at a minumum wage job".
What do you give up for these "priveledges"?
Well, if you work for an employer like mine who "believes you should serve your civic duty, and therefore graciously provides unpaid leave". You get to donate a whole days pay, for every single day, your service is required. In my case, I make about 4 times more a day then the court will "compensate" me. Being the primary wage earner in my home, I could serve exactly 4 days on the jury until bills start going unpaid for the month. I can only imagine someone who only makes twice, or is the sole wage earner. They probably couldnt afford even one day of this garbage.
Does the government give a damn? No, not really. Does your employer? Hell no.
BUT, I do have an alternative.
My company will allow me to place my vacation days in place of jury days. So, I wont technically "lose" money in this case, I will actually benefit. The only thing is, I get to spend my vacation days sitting in a court room.
What if I didnt have any days? What if I had already used them? What if Im on a case that extends past my available vacation days?
Does the government give a damn? No, not really. Does your employer? Hell no.
After all, no price is too high to involuntarily serve your "civic duty", including loss of home, repossession of any number of items, loss of utilities, or starvation.
Go forth patriots!
posted by Lethal_Poison at 7:54 AM
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