I’d like to work, but …
March 13, 2009 by Jill Cornfield
Filed under Health
I don’t work outside the home, these days. Recently, there’s been some freelance work, luckily, but I don’t have to be anywhere. And given Alex’s schedule, I don’t see how I can. For a few years, he had an afterschool program that returned him home by bus at around 6:00, but that was only three days a week. This year, no after-school. He’s home at 4:30 every day. If there’s a job that would get me home in time to meet Alex’s bus (after meeting Ned’s bus at 3:30), I’d take it.
A lot of the mothers I know don’t work for pay outside the home. “It’s just not possible, given Sasha’s therapy schedule,” said one. “During the day is when I catch up on sleep if I have to,” said another. (OK, that was me. I’d definitely miss making up for lost sleep if I had a full-time job.)
A couple of years ago I got a jury duty summons, and some parent told me with utter confidence I’d definitely have to serve. “What about when my kids get home from school?” I asked her. “Oh, they just set it up so you leave at 2:30 or 3:00,” she said, and for some reason I believed her. But I had to go down to court anyway, so I went and told all this to the jury officer (”I’m certainly willing to serve,” I told him, “but who’s going to take care of my kids after school? Should I leave early?”) and he looked at me like I was nuts and told me if I was sole caretaker of school-age children, I didn’t have to serve.
I think it depends on where you live and the court system. Here in Los Angeles it made no difference that I am the single parent to two boys on the autism spectrum. I could postpone my service for three months, which I did to make it during summer and I had to drive very early in morning 45 minutes to take kids to early morning care at summer camp, which cost $10 per hour per child and then after camp care was same price. I parked my minivan at the camp parking lot, walked 8 blocks to the metro link and paid for the RT at $3 per day, a 20 minute ride to downtown LA, we live not even ten minutes from there, and then I took a bus to the court house, waited in line for the entrance and the screening. I was on a case for seven days, sometimes it started at 10 AM and other times we got out at 3 or 4.
I just renewed my license and expect to get that form again maybe this summer as that was about 3 yrs ago. I get paid to care for my child as a home health care worker.
Thanks for writing, Bonnie. I’m so touched by your experiences I’m writing more about jury duty today. You’re definitely right that where you live determines how easy or hard it is to get an exemption or deferral. I don’t think doing your civic duty should be a financial or family hardship, and I wish more states would sign on family-friendly jury duty legislature. Looks like I lucked out with New York State – I’ve gotten an exemption for over a decade now.