Doing My Civic Duty and Fighting My PsA All The Way

Have you ever had to report for jury duty? I just did. If you’re a registered voter, it makes you eligible to potentially be on jury duty. I got my summons for jury duty in October of this year. However, at the time, we were down one vehicle due to mechanical issues. My husband must be at work by 5 a.m., so he had to take our truck. We live in the country, so there are no buses I could take. Yes, I could have taken a taxi or an Uber. The problem with that is I would have to pay to get there and then back home. Since we were looking at an unknown expense to get the car fixed, it was not a good solution.

The only alternative I had was to email the jury coordinator to see if I could be dismissed given the situation. I anxiously awaited her response. When it came, it was not the solution I wanted, but it did give me time. I was told that while I was not dismissed, I could pick a new date which would give us time to have the car repaired. The new dates ranged from later in October to the end of December. We had not had much of a winter so far, but I knew December weather could be brutal. With my psoriatic arthritis (PsA) uncontrolled, I know any cold day would make my body hurt in excruciating ways. Since it had been mild so far, I picked the third week in November. My hope was that with it being near the upcoming holiday, I would not have to report.

Reporting for jury duty

When you have been chosen to potentially be on jury duty, you have to start by calling in on Sunday evening to see if you must report. I was apprehensive calling, but I was told I did not have to report and to call back on Monday evening. I got the same message for Monday. Tuesday came with the hope I would get the same message. No such luck. I was told I would have to report to court at a specific time and to a specific courtroom. Remember the mild temperatures we had been having? Well, a cold front came that night. It brought much cooler temperatures and blustery winds with it. The morning I had to report, the temperature was 40 degrees with 15-mile-an-hour wind. I thought I had dressed warmly enough, but with that strong wind, it was not enough.

I left home early. It was my hope I could get a parking space close to the courthouse. I was lucky enough to get a space a block away. However, having to walk that block in cold weather was so painful. By the time I got to the courthouse door, my hips and knees were seriously painful. It was a good thing I had brought my cane with me because I needed it. I would have been in trouble without it. In just one block of walking, that cold wind penetrated deep into my bones.

The aftermath

The torture didn’t stop there because I did not leave until 1 p.m. Luckily, I was not picked to be on the jury. I did, however, still have to call each night until I was released. Those days were filled with me lying in my bed under my electric blanket, hoping the warmth would ease the pain. Given my psoriatic pain from that one day, the next time I am summoned for jury duty, I will be contacting my doctor for an excuse to get out of it.