When you are in business for a little while you are bound to come across obstacles. The truth of the matter is that there are tons of them. Some I have found are self-imposed. If I manage my time poorly I have a problem. Many of course have to do with money, and rarely that there is too much of it (although I have heard that too much money can be a problem as well and I would like to test that theory). Some come from outside.
I have an outside obstacle right now. I am the only employee of my nice little computer consulting business. I have great customers that are easy to work with. Right now I am the sole wage earner in my family. And about two weeks ago I got a Jury Summons.
I believe in the right and responsibility for citizens to participate on juries. However I have attempted to get out of that responsibility because it would create a hardship for my business and therefore my family if I were to loose valuable days of business while sitting on a jury. Unfortunately I can't really pick when a computer crashes or when my customers will have some other emergency. There isn't anybody I can pass the work off to in my absence. As well I don't have an employer who will continue to pay my salary while I sit on a jury. I read the notice I got and it says if it would create a hardship for you that you can request to be excused. I did.
I got back a letter a few days later saying my request had been denied. I sent another email trying to explain the hardship in a little more detail and it fell on deaf ears. The person in charge of this matter for the King County Superior Court seems to feel I am probably just making it all up and need to do my time. I'm sure he has heard it all before and is therefore very callused to the arguments. I'm not sure what his interpretation of hardship would be? Maybe if you needed a triple-bypass surgery. He says I should show up for 2 days and if I am called to a jury I can make my case to the judge. I'm wondering why the courts would want to waste time (mine and theirs) by bringing reluctant jurors in and then excusing them because of the financial hardship it would cause?
At this point all I can do is request a delay of one year. Hopefully by that time I can make some arrangements that will allow me to serve without difficulty to my business. If I don't get that delay granted then I feel sorry for the poor guys who's trial I sit in on because I will be ready to hang somebody.
Sometimes you can remove an obstacle, sometimes you can just step over it but sometimes like this time hopefully I can set it aside for a while. Of course sometimes you have to just plow through it. Maybe I'll write more on obstacles soon. They come in many shapes and sizes and never at a good time.
It helps to verbalize the pain.
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