you out of there. Once I actually did get a change of date by explaining that I was teaching at a university, there was no one else who could teach my courses, and that there is no such thing as a substitute teacher for university faculty. The result: I was assigned to come in on the day before Christmas, when my son was coming in to town for the holidays! Benefit, though: lawyers don't want to show up over the Christmas holidays. Everyone asked for a continuance, so those of us who showed up there and cooled our heels all day on Christmas Eve were let loose for another year. This excuse no longer holds water. Judges will simply tell you that your students will just have to take a flying f*** at the moon (in more dignified terms, of course), and the fact that you will not be paid if you don't show up to work simply means you are flat out of luck. I have found that explaining that I operate a small business and no one else can do the work does nothing to get me out of jury duty. Again, financial hardship is not an issue. Last time I sat on a jury several people -- including a single mother -- said they would lose their salaries and they got no mercy. We live in a right-to-work state, and so not only is pay quite low, most people do work at jobs where they do not