WHEN WE CHECK THE MAIL EACH DAY, WE HOPE to find things that are fun. But in this life, the mail holds so many things that make us cringe.

Bills, tickets and other junk mail can be a drag to sort through. But if one piece of mail brings more dread and despair into the lives of everyday people, it̢۪s that jury summons that requires a trip to the courthouse in downtown Fresno.

When you first get the subpoena, it racks your brain. You’re thinking, “this is terrible, I have to wake up early for nothing!â€Â

You search the summons frantically, trying to find a way to be excused from jury duty, and if you̢۪re lucky, you may be excused for things like financial hardships. People can also request postponements, but their escape is not absolute. They will be called back to jury service months later.

It̢۪s a horrible feeling. Whether you have to miss work, school or sleep, you know you will be miserable.

So if you have no excuses, it̢۪s time to make peace with the fact that you have jury duty. So you pull out the summons again. The summons will give potential jurors about a month before the reporting date. It will also have a phone number and a Web site for potential jurors to check whether or not they are required to report.

Here is how typical jury duty service works in Fresno.

The court asks you to call or check its Web site after 5 p.m. on the day before you are scheduled to report. The words you cross your fingers and hope to hear or see are ‘You will not be needed at the courthouse. You have completed your jury service.’ But they almost never let you off the hook that easy anymore. You’re more likely to hear something like, ‘your jury service will not be needed tomorrow. However, you may be needed the following day, so check in again at 5 p.m. tomorrow.’

And so it goes, each day of the week until you are finally required to report to the courthouse.
When you check in at the courthouse for jury duty, there is no telling where they are going to put you. They just offer coffee and ask you to be patient. That̢۪s the part where you are reminded just how miserable jury duty is. You will typically wait for an hour, then roll call takes place and jurors are sent to courtrooms.

While some jurors are assigned to a courtroom and a trial, others are sent skipping to their cars knowing their service is complete for at least one year. If I could cue music in your head about how good that feels, I would use Bob Dylan’s, “The Man In Me,â€Â because it truly is a wonderful feeling to leave that place.

If you didn̢۪t make it out of the courthouse by now, you may very well be sitting in the jury box taking questions from prosecuting and defense attorneys. They try to detect any bias and ask you if you can be fair during the trial.

If you want out, this is your chance.

You have to tell them whatever you can to make them think you wouldn̢۪t be a fair juror. Guarantee them you won̢۪t, that is unless you don̢۪t mind spending the days of the next month stuck in downtown Fresno.

That̢۪s as far as I̢۪ve ever had to go with my jury service.

If you̢۪re not out of your jury service by now, well, I hope you like their coffee.

Adam Criswell is a student at Fresno State majoring in mass communication and journalism with an emphasis in print journalism.