Jury Duty

I got a pleasant surprise today. A few weeks ago I got a summons for Jury Duty. It was confusing. It said that I'm supposed to call on Friday to see if I'm supposed to report, but it also said that I was to report on Wednesday. I didn't know which was right.

Now, I'm from New York, the city. I've served on juries there a couple of times. There, the judges and lawyers are all very pleasant and helpful. But the clerks can be rude and uncooperative sometimes. Because of my experiences, I was reluctant to call to find out exactly when I'm supposed to report.

Today, I got up the nerve and got the most helpful clerk. She even gave me her name, which I promptly forgot. She explained that I definitely should call over the weekend. I asked if I should report on Wednesday even if they don't call my number. She said that they almost definitely will call my number and I will have to report on Wednesday.

After all my years in New York dealing with the clerks in Jury Duty and the clerks in Motor Vehicles, I'm pleasantly surprised by the helpfulness of the clerks in New Jersey. I may even stay here for a while.