yep, i’ve been summoned for jury duty for this week. i don’t know why every fiber of my body seems so opposed to the idea of serving on a jury (maybe I’m unpatriotic?) but I’m really upset about this. I think I just hate changing my routine. Not to mention the fact that the court is in downtown los angeles, which is 10 miles away – or in los angeles traffic terms, light years. Of course, the court does reimburse me for mileage – .34 per mile that I travel, one way – is that a joke? $3.40 reimbursement? That’s not even enough to pay for the one gallon of gas that it takes me to get there! (And lest you think that my car is an inefficient gas guzzling monster – let me remind you again of los angeles traffic. During rush hour, both ways, no less). Plus, I had plans to go to my hometown at the beginning of next week to celebrate a late father’s day, which I know both of my parents were REALLY looking forward to. Who knows when I’m going to be able to schedule three days off of work again? I can only hope now that I won’t be placed on the jury that i’ve been selected for. Everyone cross your fingers for me, please. Oh yeah, and did I mention that I’m PMS-ing? I almost burst into tears when they called my name (at 3:40 pm, after I had already been sitting there comatose for 7 hours).
And of course, my budget is taking a hit as well. You didn’t think I was smart enough to plan ahead and bring snacks and lunch for my day at the court did you? Because of course I wasn’t. As a result, I spent 5.40 at Subway (for a very disgusting sandwich – since when do we put SHREDDED cheese on sandwiches?), and 4.50 on miscellaneous vending machine crap. Oh and 1.50 on courtroom coffee, which I do NOT recommend. All in all, barely over ten dollars, but I was just eating to fill the time, and didn’t enjoy any of that food. Which makes me angry at myself for being so wasteful, and angry at the court just for calling me in. I know. It’s my duty. Does not make me want to do it anymore. It’s just so darn inconvenient.
Oh yeah, and don’t think i’m getting any great learning experience out of this either. It’s not going to be an interesting case. I’m sitting on the jury of some sort of traffic violation. So I’m faced with the prospect of listening to someone argue why they shouldn’t have to pay some sort of traffic violation (through an interpreter, since they don’t speak English!) for the next FIVE to SEVEN DAYS. Court days. Ugh.
Ok, enough complaining. I hope I’ve got it out of my system for now, and can somewhat enjoy my next few hours of freedom from this court-mandated hell.
My budget is not looking good. But I’m so upset about everything else that I’m trying to berate myself for being dollars over in some places. I’m still paying cash for everything, and saving my target amounts, and paying off my allotted amount of debt every month, so I have to let myself feel ok about a few stray dollars sloshing around.
