Friday, July 29, 2011

The Rant I Related to The Hunger Games

Disclaimer: This post is a rant, as forementioned in the title (See up there?). If you don't want to hear me complain (which is going to happen in this post), turn around now. Don't say you haven't been warned! =]

Today I woke up in a complete panic. Actually it took a minute or two for the panic to set it, but once I realized what the day was and starting doubting that I had read the paper wrong, I started to panic.

Why was I panicking you ask? What is this paper I speak of?

Oh nothing but my summons or jury service or the worst two words known to Americans: JURY DUTY.

I got the survey a couple of months ago, you know the survey that lets them know if you're qualified to be a juror. Well when I pulled the envelope out of the mailbox, I knew exactly what it was.

Also side rant: You know how most people get called to jury duty in their county? I would be the one who gets called to serve in Richmond, you know an hour from my house. What the heck, U.S. Government, what the heck?!

Back to pulling my jury duty questionnaire out of the mailbox. When I did, I am sad to say a couple of uneducated-American questions came to mind.

First I thought, wait, I'm only 23 years old, how can I have jury duty? Secondly I thought, well if I get this over with now, I won't have to do it again (Then I recalled conversations from the teachers' lounge that reminded me how wrong this statement is).

Now I understand the importance of jury duty and a fair trial, but I thought of a better way to do it. Actually Suzanne Collins did.

Jury duty would be so much better if it was done like the reaping in the book, The Hunger Games.

If you haven't read the book, the basic idea (for jury duty that is; in the book only 12-18 year olds are eligible for the reaping) is that once you turn 18, your name goes in once, when you turn 19 it goes in twice. So by the time you're 20, your name is in there 6 times. And by the time you're 23 (like me), my name would be in there twenty one times, which seems like a lot until you compare it to the number of times a 50-year-old's name would be in there (feel free to do that math on your own.)

Therefore, I'd be less likely to be the girl calling the number on her paper every day after 6 p.m. to see if I have to report 40 miles to Richmond, to pay up to $17 dollars to park in a parking deck, to serve on a jury for $40 dollars (hey, I can't complain about this because I do need money).

Also if you have read The Hunger Games, go buy it from Amazon and read it immediately! And then read Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games) and Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, Book 3)!  

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