Thursday, March 14, 2013

Jury Duty Is Supposed To Be Business Casual

I've been on stand by all week for Jury Duty. For those who live in Riverside County, California, you know how this works. You get your summons a month out. Then the week of, beginning Sunday night, you either call in or log onto the website to see if your Juror Badge Number has been pulled for the next day. To those who live in other counties in California, or other states besides Florida and California (cause those are the only two I have lived in when at the age to be summoned), you'll have to tell me how things are done where you are.

To be honest, this method is major annoying! In Escambia County, Florida, if you were summoned (and didn't get excused) you reported to the parking lot on Monday and rode the trolley to either the County Court House or the State Court House (Pensacola was the location for the Northern District of Florida). And then you waited. You waited in a room with about 150-200 others until your name was called. If your name was never called, you got to go home and you were done (I think...this didn't happen to me). If your name was called, like mine was, you were then pulled into a court room with about 50 others and would go through the selection process. Question after question about if you know the lawyers, the accused, the judge, the sheriff officers in the room that would be assigned to the case, or the other potential jurors. You were asked questions about you or anyone in your family going through an experience similar to what was going to be on trial - murder, rape, DUI, etc. At the end of it all, fourteen people are chosen - twelve jurors and two alternates (but you don't know who the alternates are until the end of the trial). The rest are dismissed (that also didn't happen to me).

The one, and only, time I was summoned for jury duty in Pensacola, I was chosen as a jury member for a murder trial. The selection process was on Monday and the trial started on Tuesday. Thankfully it was fairly quick and we finished Tuesday night with a verdict. But it made for two very long days.

I have lived in Riverside County for just over four years. And I have received summons twice already. I lived in Florida the majority of my life. I turned 18 as an Florida resident, moved to Alabama for two years, and then was back in Florida until I moved to California. Age 21-39 I lived in Escambia County, Florida, and I only received Jury Summons one time! I really don't know how to interpret that!

Last night I logged into the courts website and was told to report this morning. Attire was to be Business Casual. I've worked in a college/university environment for the past 10 years, with retail and office experience prior to that. To me, this is Business Casual:

*for me personally, less skirts, more dress pants*

But apparently not everyone's mommas/bosses/HR Departments taught them the way mine did. There were a lot of people in jeans (which, had I known, I would have been too as they would have been MUCH more comfortable). There were a couple guys in baggy jeans and oversized hoodies. And, my personal favorite, the girl who looked like she rolled out of bed, realized she didn't check her status the night before so she checked it at 7:30 this morning only to realize she had to report at 8 and threw this ensemble on:


Flip flops for shoes and her hair looking like this (the give away that she didn't have time to devote to getting ready):

Now, I have no problem with the messy bun look or the hoodie (except that it's not Business Casual, as was expected for today). In fact, most of the time my hair is in a messy bun. And when it's cold out, you'll find me mostly in hoodies. However, I despise jeans that are this holey that are worn in public as fashion. You look like you don't care about yourself. Why anyone would pay money for jeans that look like they won't last one wash is beyond me. You can achieve the same look by falling on your face on the concrete with a razor blade.

Aside from the fact that the Jury Summons said business casual, as did the online information when you were told you had to report for jury duty, you are going to a court house! That, more than anything else, should be cause for respect.

And while I'm on the topic of business casual, do the kids that roam the malls in jeans and tanks/t-shirts snagging applications actually get hired by these stores? I'm just curious. Cause my momma ALWAYS made me dress nice (read as business casual) when I went job hunting....even if was just K-Mart.

Hugs...
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1 comment:

  1. Schools these days let kids wear their PJs as a "treat", what is that teaching our children. I'm all for being comfy, but wearing sloppy clothes to court would be out of the question! I agree completely with you on this!

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