Don't get me wrong - I've waited for 25 years to be called to sit for jury duty. I'm just feeling a bit put out with the way it's been done.

Back in July I got a packet in the mail telling me I had been selected for Federal jury duty. It's for two days or one trial. Fine. I tell my employer that I've been called and need these two days off. No problem - this is weeks in advance of the scheduled days. My employer's one of the generous ones that will make up the difference between what the Feds paid me and what I would have earned had I been at my job. Part of the juror instructions tell me to call a toll-free number after 5pm the day before I'm to report. I call the number and hear that jurors with numbers 00001 to 00150 are to report to the courthouse - the rest are to report to their normal jobs as scheduled. Excuse me?? My employer needs to have a certain number of people on the floor every day. Someone else has been scheduled to come in and work my hours - I can't go in and say, "Here I am, you can send the Robin home." Robin's now counting on those hours for her next paycheck. So I've just lost a day's pay. When I call the toll-free number on the second evening, the recording is much the same, report to your normal job, and if you didn't have to report at all this time, expect to see another summons within the next six months. Lovely. I've lost two days pay and I get to go through this again sometime soon. Be still my heart.

Guess what came in the mail a few weeks ago? This time my juror number is 00038, so I was pretty sure that it would be for real this time. Great - the Federal Building in Harrisburg is only a half-hour's drive away. I might even run into someone I used to work with (at lunchtime) when I was a state employee there. This could be fun. Wait... I'm to report to the district court in Philadelphia - ninety minutes in the opposite direction.

OK, fine. What are my options here? Well, I'm more than 50 miles away, so the Feds will reimburse me a subsistence rate of $189/day if I choose to stay overnight - I can even come into town the night before if I want. DH works 3rd shift, DS is only 14, and I'm going to spend two nights away from home? Not in this lifetime. Besides which, if I had nearly $400 to loan interest free to Uncle Sam for 3 weeks right before Christmas, I'd sure be sleeping a lot better than I am right now when I think about lists and gifts and shopping.

I could drive. The car would probably make it. I don't mind driving into a little city like Lancanster or Harrisburg. That's what I'm used to. And I've driven in Philly enough times that it's not as intimidating as it used to be. But I won't just be driving in Philly. I'll be driving in Philly in rush hour, and having to find a place to park. My knuckles are turning white already.

That leaves taking the train. OK, get on the Amtrak site, pull up the schedules. Here's one that leaves Lancaster at 7:05. Gets into Philadelphia at 8:24. I'm to be at the courthouse at 8:30. There was a big article in the paper last week about how Amtrak's been running 70% late since they "improved" service this summer. Better take the next earlier train. 5:35 (sigh). Arrives 6:45. At least I'll have time for breakfast at the station. OK, reserve a ticket. Cool - there's a discount for AAA members. No, there's a discount for AAA members if you book your ticket at least three days in advance (sigh). Kinda tough to do when you don't know until the night before whether you're going or not.

I'll be going, but now I understand why folks grumble. They certainly don't trouble themselves to make it a convenient or pleasant experience for the jurors, do they? Anyhow, thanks for letting me grump.

Pidge? Do you know off the top of your head whether SEPTA runs from the 30th Street station to the courthouse on Market Street?