"Judy Dudy"

OKAY...get ready because you are going to feel the steam coming from your computer as you read this :) I am NOT happy with our wonderful judicial system here in Missouri. Some of you have had the wonderful blessing of having me call you and complain about this already, so you can go ahead and stop reading at this point :) For those of you who didn't get that precious phone call (if you feel like hearing a complaint) go ahead and keep reading. Back in the fall, I received a jury summons. Now, let me say at this point, that I would LOVE to be on a jury some day.....just not this "day." When I got my first summons, I was close to delivering Makayla and my OB wrote a note to excuse me because of the soon delivery. They replied back and said that I was postponed until March. I explained that I would be nursing a baby full-time at that point. The lady (very rudely) said, "Have you ever heard of pumping, Mam?!" I said, "Yes, but it never works for me and my babies never seem to take bottles." I couldn't do anything to persuade her from sending me the summons again for March. So, a couple of weeks ago, I got the second summons and had my pediatrician write a letter stating that I have a baby who is solely nursing at this point and cannot be away from me for more than three hours. The reply came back stating that I still had to report for duty and plea my case with the judge. SO, every night before bed, Bryce has been praying for mommy as she goes to "Judy Dudy!" When I told him on Sunday night that he was going to have to come with me, he got all nervous. He was afraid that they were going to put him in jail :) Anyways, I enlisted the help of my good friend, Jackie, to come and drive me and the three youngest kiddies downtown Kansas City. By the way, Jackie, thank you, thank you, thank you! I couldn't have done it without you....you are a gem! We got the kids up at the crack of dawn (the one morning that they were actually sleeping in!) and loaded them in Jackie's car. To make a very yucky experience short, I waited through all of their schmick-schmack and yackety-yack about my rights as a citizen and my privilege to serve on a jury. After a couple of hours, the time came for them to call all of the people that wanted to speak with the judge about being excused. I jumped up and was the first in line (holding Makayla asleep) :) I got up to the window and Yvonne (the same mean lady that I had talked to on the phone!) greeted me with a glare. She told me that since I had already been postponed once, that I had to wait to speak to the judge after the first round of selections. Whatever THAT means! Well, after I walked away, I had some more questions for that sweet lady because I kinda wanted a little time frame for my rambunctious kids who were laying on that nasty floor in the hallway -- ooo, yuck! So, I waited in the stinking long line of people and greeted Yvonne with a big smile and asked her what was going to happen next. She said in her oh-so-sweet way that I was to sit down and wait for her to call my name. I no longer had sat down and she called my name :) So, I went to the judge to plea my case. I explained to her about the nursing situation and that my husband is a teacher and not able to watch the kids for me. She said that she would give me ANOTHER 5 month postponement and that I had better get my baby eating some food by then! She also said that since it will be August then, that my teacher husband should be capable of watching our kids! OH I WAS SO MAD!!! I told her that it wasn't that I wouldn't have loved to be on a jury, I just simply can't do it at this stage in my life. She didn't really seem to care :) As we were walking out of the courthouse, I saw all of the local news channels waiting. I guess there was some big murder case that they were selecting the jury for and the news was waiting to cover the big event. I WOULD HAVE LOVED A MURDER CASE! After seeing all of those scary people in the jury selection room, I would have wanted ME to be on the jury if I was on trial. That really didn't make sense :) Anyways, I wanted to walk up to the NBC van and say, "HEY Dude! I've got a story for you!" Surely, I have some sort of rights as a breastfeeding mom, don't I?!? So, I get to go back and endure that same experience again in 5 months!!! YIPPEE!!! Please don't think I am being disrespectful to our government. I think it is a fine system and it really does work. It just seems like other people get out of JUDY DUDY for lame excuses, but I really did have a good excuse! Oh Well! Maybe next time I will get sequestered and sent to a hotel for a peaceful nights sleep :) Michael just read the mail and said that something came stating that I was to report for DUDY on August 18th. When I was in the office, I chose August 4th or 11th. Now, my teacher husband is going to be in in-service and won't be able to watch the kids. HA HA HA!!!! Now, I get to call sweet Yvonne and chat with her AGAIN tomorrow and Bryce gets to keep praying for Judy Dudy for the next 5 months!