Civic Duty and EPP

A few weeks back, I received a summons in the mail that told me that I could be picked as a juror in criminal court of Allegheny County.  My first thought was ‘oh, crap’.  Not a very civic minded response, but I was once a juror in a civil case, and it was not a pleasant experience.  The note on the summons that said that I had to call after 5 p.m. this past Friday night to see if my number was in the pool of people who had to report.  So I tried to forget about it, at least until I had to make the call.  If I don’t think about it maybe it won’t happen?   Saturday, I remembered that I had to call.  Hold breath, dial number…. 

DARN, I was on the list. I immediately got grouchy and had myself a grand old pity party.  I checked the current parking situation in Pittsburgh.  The cheapest that I was going to be able to find a parking space reasonably close was going to cost me $16.  GRUMBLE. And that was if I walked 6 blocks (about 1/2 mile)  to the courthouse.  Anything closer was going to be at least $24. GRUMBLE, GRUMBLE.  Parking in Pittsburgh is downright expensive.  I think I remember seeing that it was the most expensive city for parking (or somewhere close to the top anyway).   Then I checked the bus schedule.  OK, I could catch a bus. 

But then I looked at the weather.  The forecast was for -2 ⁰F overnight.  SERIOUSLY?  There was no way I was going to slip and slide down to the bus stop and stand there hoping that the bus showed up on time while trying to keep from freezing. GRUMBLE, GRUMBLE, GRUMBLE!  Why the heck did they have to pick me in the dead of winter?  Don’t they know that it was going to be freaking COLD out there?

After listening to my dilemma, my sweet hubby volunteered to drive me there!  I know what a sacrifice that is because he absolutely hates driving in the winter.  Driving in the winter during rush hour doesn’t just double the hate, it quadruples it!  I really didn’t want to put him through that, so I came up with a compromise.  He drove me to the bus stop and I got to wait in the warm car until the bus came.  Win, win!

I packed a small tote bag with essentials for the day – wallet, money for the bus, a comb, a pen, and of course – something to work on!  I have a souvenir popcorn tub from Epcot that is the perfect size for toting my EPP hexagon project.  It holds a small container of hexie papers, a spool of thread, my needle/pin minder, finger thimbles and a small pair of scissors, plus enough 2 inch squares to make about 10 hexagon flowers. 

Did you know that you have to go through security to get into a court building?  I didn’t, but it really didn’t surprise me.  What did surprise me is that they made me hand over my scissors!  See those cute little scissors on the pink ribbon in the picture?  Can you tell that they are a dangerous weapon?  Really, they are! At least, that's what the security guard told me. Do you see the size of them?  The blade is only about an inch long! I protested that I have taken them on airplanes many times and it has never been an issue, but the guard informed me that ‘this is not an airplane; it is CRIMINAL court’.  I considered telling him that I was not a criminal and that I was only here to do my civic duty, but I thought the better of it.  Anyway, he gave me a receipt for the scissors so I could pick them up when I left.  I was very amused by the fact that the receipt was called a ‘WEAPONS’ receipt and it was numbered 6307.  I guess that they get a lot of ‘weapons’, LOL!  But I should be glad that they only took my scissors – one other juror packed a salad for lunch, and they made her hand over her fork! 

Despite my lack of scissors, I did manage to get the four flowers in the picture done today.  And I wasn’t selected for a jury, so I don’t have to brave the elements tomorrow, when it is supposed to be -5 ⁰F!  Win, win!