Jury Duty

I had jury duty today. After 7 1/2 hours of hanging out in the jury room (mostly I worked on crocheting this doily; PDF file), my name was finally called, along with several other people. The judge announced that we had been selected to serve on a two-week-long trial. She asked if anyone in the group had a reason he or she would not be able to serve for two weeks. A few people responded that they could not be away from their jobs that long, or that they were planning to take a trip. The judge interrogated each one of them--is there anyone else who can do your job? What would happen if you weren't there? Can your trip be rescheduled?, etc. When she came to me, I said, "I'm due to have a baby any day." She just smiled and said, "Okay, next." A man in front of me turned around and whispered, "That was a good one. I think I'll use that one next time." :-) Needless to say, I was excused.

Also, I found out that in my state, if you are summoned for jury duty, and you are a woman breastfeeding a child, you are automatically excused. I'm glad someone has gone before me to make things easier for breastfeeding moms.