This week, Ive got jury service. In the lottery of life, Ive got away without doing it before. When the letter arrived last year, I applied to put off the evil day (or fortnight), but you can only postpone once, and the time has now arrived.
I find that attitudes to jury service are revealing. One friend said that he couldnt possibly manage to fit it in, and obtained a letter from the doctor to let him off. Another simply failed to answer the summons. Presumably, the authorities thought he had moved house because he wasnt asked again. Mentioning these strategies to others of my acquaintance has sparked outrage. But its your duty as a citizen, they say. Besides, they continue optimistically, you might enjoy it.
I am buoyed by the words of a barrister friend. The crown court that I must attend is Southwark; he assures me that it has a very good class of trial West End cases, as he puts it. It makes jury service sound like a musical, although without a plot or interaction with the other players. I just hope the case isnt fraud. However entertaining the novelty, six months of it would pall.
