# Jury duty or work? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 22, 2015, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872 "2015-07-22T12:56:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/1 "2015-07-22T12:56:04Z")
You can miss one day of work for jury duty. Or you can skip your jury summons but that means you’ll have to show up for work as scheduled. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/2 "2015-07-22T13:04:48Z")
Jury duty. I have been summoned a few times and chosen as an alternate once. I find the process both tedious and fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/3 "2015-07-22T13:05:27Z")
I like my work. I don’t feel a need to miss it for something less enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/4 "2015-07-22T13:14:49Z")
Basically for me, the option is most likely to be the choice between “Go to work and deal with a bunch of people and things that I don’t much care about” or “Ride the public transit train to jury duty, read for a few hours, and go home when I’m not called to a panel.” So I pick jury duty. First, it’s an obligation as a citizen, and second, it’s a welcome change in my routine, and would let me catch up on some reading. Third, I don’t get dinged in any way for attending jury duty, so there’s no penalty except for not having whatever pleasure there is at work. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/5 "2015-07-22T13:18:43Z")
Jury duty is a legal and civic obligation. Work will always be there tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/6 "2015-07-22T13:20:34Z")
I had jury duty and I really enjoyed it (except for having to look at some really bloody crime scene photos.) And as a Fed employee, I was paid Court Leave. Even tho I’m retired now, I’d do it again. It was quite an education. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/7 "2015-07-22T13:21:25Z")
Not sure why this is an either or poll. If called to jury duty, I would go, just like I have gone all one times I have been called. It’s a civic duty, and while many party of it are exceedingly boring, the process as a whole is very interesting to me. So I have no reason to want to get out of jury duty. Then again, I actually enjoy my job and the people I work with, so I have no reason to try and get out of work either. I mean, I guess I would choose jury duty for the poll because if called I would go, but it’s not like I’m going to be happy or sad one way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/8 "2015-07-22T13:36:59Z")
I liked jury duty, except for the PITA of parking downtown. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/9 "2015-07-22T13:38:18Z")
Jury duty. Like voting its the price I’m willing to pay to bitch the rest of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/10 "2015-07-22T13:40:07Z")
At my local courthouse, the waiting room for prospective jurors is in the basement and there’s no WiFi or cell service down there. So unless you bring a magazine, it can get really boring really fast. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/11 "2015-07-22T13:43:49Z")
If I had the choice, I’d choose work. I’m the only person who does my job so a day off work means twice as much work the day after. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/12 "2015-07-22T13:48:32Z")
I’m happy to do my part when asked, but if there were some massive oversupply of eager jurors, I wouldn’t volunteer. The work needs doing whether I’m there or not. ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/13 "2015-07-22T13:51:40Z")
Jury duty! It’s something different. I go to work all the time. I know what happens there. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/14 "2015-07-22T13:53:16Z")
I get paid if I go so I picked jury duty as a change of pace. I doubt I will ever get picked for a criminal trial but I may get it for a civil trial. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/15 "2015-07-22T14:01:38Z")
While I enjoy my job, by and large, I enjoy it _on the scale of work_, and a day without heavy lifting is always welcome if I can bring along a book or a tablet to amuse myself during the parts where we’re sitting around, waiting to find out if we’re going to be on a jury panel, or sent home, or whatever. BTW, I’m interpreting a day of jury duty as what one normally experiences on a typical day when one actually has to show up for jury duty, as opposed to a day where one calls the recording and you find you may or may not have to show up. Even then, the likelihood that you’ll be on an actual jury, deciding an actual case, seems to be pretty slim. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/16 "2015-07-22T14:08:18Z")
Thanks guys. Just to be clear: Let’s just say for the purposes of this thread. You are ALLOWED to choose. And in this hypothetical, you wouldn’t be breaking any laws by opting not go to jury duty. ---
**Author:** ![mind\_the\_gap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@mind\_the\_gap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mind_the_gap)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/17 "2015-07-22T14:11:53Z")
Work. Work sucks, but jury duty may suck and it doesn’t pay anything. I’ll let others enjoy their fascination with the system of “justice”. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/18 "2015-07-22T14:21:28Z")
I like Jury Duty. Either I get to participate in a case, which is always interesting, or I get to sit in a room and read/browse the web/socialize for a day. I’m salaried, so I’m not losing any pay. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/19 "2015-07-22T14:21:28Z")
I have a lot of down time at work so I’ll gladly take the jury duty. It’ll break the monotony. ---
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872/20 "2015-07-22T14:29:09Z")
A book, a sack lunch, and a day in an air-conditioned Jury Assembly Room would be heaven right now. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-or-work/725872.md?page=2)