Jury Duty - Awful timing!

I was just discussing with my Mom how I think jury duty could be a great experience but really hoped I didn't get called up for a few years. Well, on Monday I opened a letter that couldn't have come at a worse time! JURY DUTY!

I really do want to serve, or attempt to. Jury duty makes me nervous as you're basically deciding what happens with someone's life. It's up to you to decide if the evidence shows their guilty enough to go to jail for a long time, or even the rest of their lives. In some ways I don't feel old enough to be in this position but here I am.

Ok, now for the timing. I'm the sole care provider for three children during the day so finding a sitter, or in my case, three sitters was tough. My Husband can take off two days, my Mom can take off 1 day and my Sister can take of the last 2 days. If the trial goes longer than a week I'm in big trouble!

Other problem, we were supposed to go to the State Fair on the Tuesday after jury duty begins. If I get called up we won't be able to go until after I'm off. Ok, so this isn't really a problem, more an inconvenience.

Last problem is that I'll be 35 weeks pregnant! Again, this might not be a problem but they probably won't want an insanely pregnant, hormonal and emotional pregnant woman deciding someone's fate.

I'm able to get a 9 month postponement and my OB offered to write me a note excusing me from jury duty. However, if I were to get called up in 9 months I'll have 4 kids to find a sitter for, one of whom will be a nursling!

So my hope is that I'll either serve now or be dismissed! If I go and am dismissed based on my viewpoints, which are pretty strict, or because I'm hugely pregnant I won't be called up for 4 years. If I do get dismissed I really hope I'll get called up again in the future!

I find the whole justice system very interesting and would love to see how it works behind the scenes. I guess time will tell if they'll choose me or not…

Have you ever served on Jury Duty?