Juror #B245 Reporting

When Monkey was a nursing infant, I was called for jury duty in Iowa. I mentioned I had recently had a baby, and that was my out.

Twenty-two years later, my number came up again. Thursday was my first day to check in to see if I needed to appear on Friday. I did not.

Then, Friday night at 5:30 p.m. I received notice that I would need to arrive by 8:15 a.m. at the "Hall of Justice" downtown. Since the kids needed the car to get to campus, I biked here on this sunny, 40° morning. It was a gorgeous day for a bike ride and it went much too quickly.

Once I arrived I quickly passed through the security check point. There were 250 of us potentially called this morning, and it looks like the vast majority showed up. I have an overflowing backpack with me since we could be here until 5 p.m., but most people in line only seemed to have their jury summons letter and their phones. I've got lunch, 4 books, letters to write and a notebook, plus all my bike gear.

And now we wait. I've filled out my two additional pieces of paperwork, which felt like I was signing up for a dating app, talked with a couple people around me, and now I'll choose my first book.

Will they pick me? Time will tell.