Saturday 27 September 2008

So this is democracy...

I get home from work last night to find a brown envelope. Brown envelopes are generally considered ominous. Few people use them... two I can think of are the Hospital (who I can recognise immediately as they put their postcode in their postage franking) and the Tax man (never a good thing). This one however had 'Courts Service' stamped on the front. Immediately I wondered who was suing me. The reality was almost as bad... a summons for jury service. The fact that I might get called for jury service had never even occurred to me, and I can't honestly say that I'm too pleased by this. Yes, democracy in action - there is no way to get out of it. With really good reason you can apply for deferral... and criminals and those lacking mental capacity are exempt... but that is it.

I immediately sent Boss-one a text message to find out if the company still pays me whilst I'm not working. I knew he'd reply straight away as he's surgically attached to his phone. He has no idea, he's considered the possibility about as much as I have.

The shocking thing is that you don't get compensated whilst you are doing jury service for loss of earning. You get paid an absolutely nominal daily amount (about £30) which covers absolutely nothing in this modern world. Clearly the Courts Service need to adjust their allowances for inflation.

Good news is, though, that my random purchase of a EuroMillions ticket yesterday (due to the immense 'must be won' prize fund) netted me £13. Added to the £10 on last week's lottery draw I'm definitely making a profit.