Last Tuesday, I had to show up for jury duty. AND, I was picked to serve on a jury, and we were there for 3 days. I would just like to say that it was probably the biggest waste of time of my entire life and I'm not even talking about the subject of the trial. A jury trial in real life is nothing like what you see on TV and in movies. There is a lot of sitting in the jury room just waiting. When the lawyers - and there were 7 for this trial - are arguing about technical issues, the jury cannot be in the courtroom. So, of the 6 hours a day we were required to be at the courthouse, we probably only spent about 3 hours a day actually in the courtroom, hearing the case.

(ETA) And another thing... This is the third year in a row that I've received a jury duty summons (the first year I've been picked for a jury though). I'm not sure when they started, but this year they had something new. While you're waiting in the "jury check-in" area, waiting to be assigned to a court, they show a video with all these people - judges, lawyers and even past jurors - talking about what a privilege it is to server on a jury. (I live in Tarrant County, Texas) The past jurors were even talking about how, "...interesting..." and "...exiting..." to see a trial first-hand.

Why are they trying to sell people on attending jury duty? It's not like we have a choice in the matter. I will say this for Texas though. They recently raised the pay rate for jurors. It used to be you were paid $5.00 a day for the first days you served and then (something like) $12.00 a day, starting on the fourth day. Now, they pay $6.00 for the first day and $40.00 a day, starting on the second day.