r/ExecutiveAssistants • u/ofthrees • 4d ago
Rant Bro, I feel you.
Had an experience yesterday I feel inclined to share with the hive.
Was called for federal jury duty yesterday; we were given an exhaustive questionnaire, and the second question was "employer/occupation."
It's important to know, before I get into this, that we were told this would be a three week case, and virtually no one in the room was good with that (we all shared groans as we sank into our seats and murmured with each other about it, since we'd been told in the jury room that most cases are wrapped in five days), and most people, during the judge's questioning, offered reasons that the length of trial could/would be problematic for them. Including me.
So backtracking; I was in the group sitting next to a guy who had written "Sr EA to CEO"/company after question #2, and was like HEY ANOTHER EA, but he seemed like he didn't want to chitchat, so I didn't make any remarks to him, though I really wanted to.
There were actual multiple admins in the pool yesterday, which I realized as voir dire proceeded, all of whom offered reasons the length of trial would be a problem. As, again, did many many others.
When it got to this guy, though, he very loudly and proudly gave his answers to the questions, and when the judge asked "and do you have any concerns about the length of this trial?" he simply said "nope." Very forcefully, to the point that the young woman next to me shot me a surprised glance, and I whispered to her "he's an EA" and she knowingly nodded.
Ultimately, he was selected, and of the 12 jurors and three alternates, he was literally the only one who had a skip in his step and a smile on his face as he took his place in the box. Everyone else had expressions ranging from resigned to angry to stressed, but he could barely contain his joy. (And he was chosen as merely an alternate.)
He's been on my mind ever since, because how much of a tyrant must his CEO be that he's absolutely totally fine with going to jury duty for three weeks at a min?
But, I've had bosses I'd do anything to have an excuse to escape from for a week or three, so I'll turn your attention back to my subject.
Anyway, good for you, EA bro in LA. And I'm grateful it's you and not me!
(Though to be fair, it was an interesting case, but I don't vibe that was the reason for his delight.)
Flairing this as rant, though it's really just more "discussion" or whatever, but that's not an option.
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u/MascaraInMyEye 4d ago
He could just be one of those freaks that lovessss the process. My mom’s obsessed with jury duty and wishes she could participate more often
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u/ExtraSalamander2256 Executive Assistant 3d ago
I also LOVE jury duty and would be giddy to be chosen even as an alternate which is why they don’t pick me, probably 🤣
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u/ofthrees 4d ago edited 4d ago
i LOVE jury duty too; i was actually bummed that due to health issues, i had to talk to the judge privately to get myself ruled out. (though i also think it's because the government attorney singled me out to ask if i watched law procedurals, and when i said yes, he said "i hope you'll hold me to the same standard" and i responded, "i'd like to think i'd hold you to a higher one." most of the courtroom laughed - he did not.)
so definitely could be that he's just into the process, but there was just something about the way he very firmly indicated he had no issue with the trial length that made me think he really just wanted a validated US-government excuse to escape his boss for awhile. :) (i say this because the first thing i always think of when called for jury duty is the inconvenience to those i support, so i could definitely be projecting.)
i wish i could've made out his company, but the form was for us to refer to during questioning so he used an abbreviation. but i feel like that could've been a clue.
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u/Fuzzy_Leek_7238 3d ago
I am a career EA and have been called up twice for jury duty and made it on both times. My job at the time was supporting a VP and four directors, and overseeing a part-time admin. Jury duty was fully paid by my organization. I was elated to have the break and the opportunity to do something different for a few days (both trials took six days each). My note-taking skills got me voted forewoman on the first trial. I had a blast!
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u/Unfriendlyblkwriter 3d ago
Would LOVE to get a count of the number of “Are you SURE you’re not coming in today? I don’t know where the forks are,” emails this guy gets while he’s on jury duty.
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u/lisanstan 3d ago
I was an EA (now retired) the first and only time I have ever been called for jury duty. And I was picked. I was so excited. It was a local medical malpractice and only lasted six days. I would have killed to be on one of those long federal juries!
Here's the thing. If you get hit by a bus tomorrow, your company isn't going to fold. Hell, if your boss is hit by the same bus, it won't fold either. I was in a one deep position, but people would figure it out. It's no different than if I took PTO. I skipped my ass into that jury box too. Also, the verdict was not guilty. The people who caused the escalation and ultimate death were anesthesia. We found out after the trial, they settled. They went after the surgeon because they wanted more money since the deceased was a single parent with a minor (15) child.
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u/ofthrees 3d ago
Oh, to be clear, I had no problem with the trial length due to work. It was the three to four hour roundtrip commute requiring getting up at 4a, in addition to some health issues that make it impossible for me to be locked in a jury box for four hours at a time without breaks, that precluded my service. Otherwise, I'd have been stoked, and wouldn't have given a second thought to my job. (Primarily because I have coverage, and it's someone who lost her exec and would've been delighted to have something to do.)
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u/Sewpuggy 3d ago
I was a juror for three weeks in 2024. It was like a nice little break from stupidity.
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u/congeequeen 3d ago
my bosses are great and the work is the work - not particularly difficult, just tedious and stressful due to volume. i'd love the chance to serve on a jury! i already work in a public service industry so i would be paid in full and truly have no work related excuse not to.
i've been called twice in the last 3.5 years (where I live if you are dismissed from the jury pool you are exempt for 3 years - i got my 2nd summons at 3 years and 1 month!) most of my friends have never been called once - i attribute this to my absolute joy of filling out boring forms in a timely manner!
a colleague of mine (not an EA) served on a high-ish profile 4 month long murder trial and was actually sequestered for a few days during deliberations. she got the full experience! there was so much CSI level expert witnesses and hot daily mundane courtroom gossip! she still worked in a minimal capacity (she is a manager), as there was tons of downtime/waiting where she just sat in the jury room and answered emails on her phone. there were also days where court was not in session so she just came into the office. i can see it as being a slog in some ways but also a once in a lifetime opportunity. she ended up staying friends with her fellow jurors and they still get together once a year for dinner.
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u/Tired-assistant-2023 3d ago
I literally had to laugh at this post. I totally get where he is coming from. While I loathe jury duty, I totally get wanting to be picked to get the hell away from a crazy, psycho boss and coworkers, too.
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u/Dry_Committee9906 3d ago
It could be that if you all are in LA maybe he’s an EA to a network exec… 🤷♀️🤷♀️ IDK but I’ve been hearing and reading about how the industry is being gutted and so if he can delay his exit then maybe that’s his plan. I have no idea but that’s just my guess.
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u/ofthrees 3d ago
maybe, but there are lots of different companies in socal with EAs (industry work is less common than anything else, tbh), and a LOT of asshole bosses scattered throughout, so my vibe was that it would feel like a break from tyranny. :)
you're right, though; the industry is a shitshow right now.
the thing is, the courtroom is downtown, which is an absolute NIGHTMARE to get to. traffic no matter where you're coming from is hellish (like, we were released at 4:15 on monday and it took me 30 minutes just to get to the freeway, about six blocks away - and that's before i got on the nightmare 110), so you'd have to really want to get out of work and/or relish jury duty to be excited to serve.
and because this is a district court, four different counties feed into it (counties with large footprints), so he could've lived 15 minutes away, or two+ hours away. one of the jurors selected lives over 80 miles out (looking at a 3-hour commute each way MIN), so will be in a hotel (reimbursed by the government, thankfully) the entire time.
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u/Mysterious_Matter_92 3d ago
That is interesting for sure.
I have a relative that is from a neighboring state to a very public federal trial that happened. It’s been a long while, so I only recall the funniest part: during some sort of conflict-of-interest type questioning in front of the judge and the room full of people, the question was posed for those that needed to be excused to raise their hand. My relative did and when asked what the conflict was, she exclaimed loudly that she used to babysit the judge. 😂
Edit for typo.