Anti-climax

Evidently the entire room of jurors was there for a single trial. About 9:30, the judge came down, with her staff, to announce that she had some good news and some bad news for us. Once the good news that we're all excused and our service is complete for a year was announced, I was surprised that she thought the bad news was worth announcing. It is as if we might have known we were the for a single trial or what said trial was about and therefore care that one of the parties is sick and the trial won't start today.

Don't get me wrong, it is too bad one of the parties is sick, but I don't even know whether it was a civil or criminal trial, much less who the parties are, so it can't really be considered bad news.

Then the judge introduced her staff... Two clerks, a reporter and a bailiff. Again... Why is this important to me? And why is it worth the judge's time to drag her staff down to the jury room? I suppose now that there's no trial today, none of them have anything to do.

All in all just a slightly odd way to spend a morning. I was shocked to see only three or four people asking blatantly stupid questions. There was one guy who's actually in jury selection since last week, but didn't evidently understand he's not due back until NEXT Tuesday. Or the guy who called over and over last night trying to find out whether to report; perhaps if he'd called the jury number rather than the office he'd have gotten the message that he wasn't needed.