"reluctantly" excused! A footnote: As the selection process wore on, we were excused for lunch. This being a small town, we were told to just go to a local restaurant and buy lunch and the court would reimburse us. I asked the clerk if there was a limit on what I could spend and she said to just not go to anyplace real expensive, but never defined what "real expensive" was. So I went to a Big Boy and ordered a regular meal, which came to about $5 plus change. Apparently most of the other potential and already seated jurors went to a sandwich shop and got something for $2 to $3. When I handed the clerk the receipt she gulped and said, "I didn't tell you to get a full dinner", to which I replied, "I asked, and you didn't tell me what to get or how much to spend, you just said not to go anyplace real expensive, and Big Boy is not 'real expensive!'" They did reimburse me, but that happened over twenty years ago and I have never been called for jury duty since! One final point, for all the "civic duty" types -- did you realize that if the Constitution of the United States were read literally, forced jury duty would be illegal (as would military conscription)? The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution clearly states that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been