posted 2007/01/28 at 18:29
I'm still trying to figure out what I hate the most about being called up for jury duty in a few weeks here.
The potential for schedule disruption is kind of high up on my list right now. Ignoring that I don't tend to be a morning person in the first place, even though going down to the courthouse right now wouldn't pose a problem, I'm dreading the possibility that some time soon I'll finally get a reply from one of the places I've applied to work at, and won't you know it they'll need to schedule me for an interview right when I'm supposed to be tied up with jury stuff. I know that this is kind of irrational because I should be able to reschedule interviews around this, but I'm starting to feel kind of desperate about this whole job thing what with the lack of replies to my inquiries and all.
Also, downtown Toledo is just generally someplace I'm not comfortable being in the first place, and driving in downtown is more often than not a nerve-wracking experience for me. Making matters worse is that I'll be going down there in this winter, which also adds the potential for slip-and-slide stuff. (We finally got our first real snowfall of the season today, just to remind me of what's possible here.) Oh, and the parking lots downtown are so expensive that I'll probably end up losing money on this whole deal, considering the pittance that jurors are paid here.
Finally, there's also the whole thing about me being a transsexual and all. Even though it's been illegal to discriminate in housing or employment for transgender people in Toledo for the past decade or so, I don't believe that those rights apply to when I go into a courtroom. Depending on the judge I get, it's entirely possible that my appearance, mannerisms, voice, etc. might wind up leading me to a contempt of court charge. I've already tried googling for information on the legal issues surrounding being transgender in a court of law when you're not the defendant, and I haven't had much luck. Given my present lack of employment, I'm also not in a position to be calling up any lawyers and looking for advice there.
All things being equal, I am really not looking forward to this, since in addition to the general hassle of it all I'm also worried about all the things that could potentially go wrong here. For lack of a better phrase, this sucks.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that being called for jury duty means that you first have to go through a selection process, where you fill out a questionaire/are interviewed or such. If you fill out the relevant information on those forms, the worst they can do is use that information as grounds for disqualifying you from jury duty, which doesn't sound like such a bad option from your standpoint.
If they do choose you for jury duty, they would do so with the full knowledge of your transgender status, so there would be no basis for holding you in contempt of court.
As for your job search, if you don't find something immediately, perhaps you would consider either a part-time job or volunteering at a non-profit organization, if for nothing else to keep you busy and in physical contact with other people.
I would also highly recommend getting and reading the book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie. Despite being written several decades ago and being overly religious in some areas, the common sense advice and examples it offered really helped me to get through my job related troubles of the past two years and free me from the prison of my own creation.
copyright © 2008 Sean Shannon