Jury Duty
Had a little adventure this morning. Haven't left the house, other than a quick trip to pick up one of the boys from school, in more than a month. Anxiety level 1-10? 11. Where did I go? Jury Duty at the Sussex County court house. Supposed to report at 9.
I got there a little bit early knowing how slowly I move from place to place and found all the handicap parking spots taken. Ruh roh. I drove around for a while and finally found a spot on the lowest level of the parking deck, by the prison. Is there a way back up to the courthouse level? Nope. Door that would take me to the elevators has a sign - "Closed for Construction" Um.
Drive back up top praying for a spot to have opened up and BINGO. Finally get to the jury room, shaky, sweating and out of breath but only 15 minutes late. Sitting at the back of the room in my rollator (thank God for that) as it's standing room only, and watching the instructional video when the Jury Manager (very nice lady) approaches me. Asks to see me out in the hall.
She points out the window and says "See that spire over there? That's the historic courthouse building. That is where Judge Soandso is holding court today. It's a brisk walk with a fairly steep hill. Is that going to be a problem for you?" I swallowed hard. Yes. A major problem. She smiled reassuringly and said "OK. Well, I'm going to dismiss you now, if that's ok. You can just give me your badge and we'll call your service complete. You don't need to come back tomorrow either."
OK then! I booked out of there at the speed of snail and headed home.
In the car I suddenly found myself welling up. Hey! You just got out of jury duty, dummy! Why are you crying? Well...after all the stress of getting there, I was actually feeling pretty good. Good for me, that is. I felt like I could really DO this. Until it was pointed out to me that I couldn't.
Weird mixed emotions, I guess. On the positive side, I got a McMuffin on the way home and after I eat it, maybe I'll go back to bed. I feel shaky and disappointed but accomplished at the same time.
Shouldn't the court have a Jury transport shuttle or something if they are holding court blocks away? I can't be the only one where walking that far would be a hardship. 😒 That is an accessibility fail, Sussex County.
I got there a little bit early knowing how slowly I move from place to place and found all the handicap parking spots taken. Ruh roh. I drove around for a while and finally found a spot on the lowest level of the parking deck, by the prison. Is there a way back up to the courthouse level? Nope. Door that would take me to the elevators has a sign - "Closed for Construction" Um.
Drive back up top praying for a spot to have opened up and BINGO. Finally get to the jury room, shaky, sweating and out of breath but only 15 minutes late. Sitting at the back of the room in my rollator (thank God for that) as it's standing room only, and watching the instructional video when the Jury Manager (very nice lady) approaches me. Asks to see me out in the hall.
She points out the window and says "See that spire over there? That's the historic courthouse building. That is where Judge Soandso is holding court today. It's a brisk walk with a fairly steep hill. Is that going to be a problem for you?" I swallowed hard. Yes. A major problem. She smiled reassuringly and said "OK. Well, I'm going to dismiss you now, if that's ok. You can just give me your badge and we'll call your service complete. You don't need to come back tomorrow either."
OK then! I booked out of there at the speed of snail and headed home.
In the car I suddenly found myself welling up. Hey! You just got out of jury duty, dummy! Why are you crying? Well...after all the stress of getting there, I was actually feeling pretty good. Good for me, that is. I felt like I could really DO this. Until it was pointed out to me that I couldn't.
Weird mixed emotions, I guess. On the positive side, I got a McMuffin on the way home and after I eat it, maybe I'll go back to bed. I feel shaky and disappointed but accomplished at the same time.
Shouldn't the court have a Jury transport shuttle or something if they are holding court blocks away? I can't be the only one where walking that far would be a hardship. 😒 That is an accessibility fail, Sussex County.
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