Good Works (Part 1): Tiny Jury Fee, Absolutely Simple Choice

Wow, I am surprisingly prolific in terms of blogging this week. I guess I'm a bit lazy because I'm taking a de facto break after of all the hustling I had to do these last 2 weeks for school stuff. Still, my jury duty has turned this week into a topsy-turvy. I have to go back at the end of the week, which means no sample sale shopping. Bummers. At least I think I get my 15 bucks plus mileage for the second day of service...which leads me to the beginning of yet another series.

I strongly believe that we should all give back to the community because we owe our successes to community support. Since I don't have much by the way of monetary assets, I try to stretch what little I have into as big a gift as possible. You may recall how my class managed to raise a load of money for Hurricane Katrina relief; if not, here's the story. In this new series, I'll talk about more ways you can make a big impact without spending much money. In some cases, it's not about the money. It's about other supplies. It's the thought that counts.

Back to today's topic: jury fees. You certainly can't count on jury service to get you a quick buck. I don't know how it works in other parts of the country (or other counties for that matter), but L.A. County has a system where jurors don't get paid for the first day of service, but they do get paid $15 plus mileage for subsequent days of service. Curiously enough, government employees would only get mileage, not the $15. I can use that $15, and I do need the money, but for those of you who are government employees who end up with really nominal (think in the pennies) fees, you might want to consider donating your fees.

It costs more for the government to send you a check than the check is worth, then it takes more gas money to get to the bank to deposit the check...kinda silly, huh? All that money spent just so that you can have your 50 cents--if that's not waste, I don't know what is. So why not just let those few cents and dollars go to a good cause? The court I was at runs several programs, including one for abused and neglected kids. If each person donate their nominal fees, it would help out. For "civilians" who are well off enough not to need the $15, or those who get paid by their employers for their jury service anyway, consider donating that money to any cause of your choosing (not limited to the court-affiliated ones, I mean). It may seem like chump change for you, but $15 can buy a lot of things.

[As a bonus for my fellow law nerds: caught my bad joke of the day buried in the title? Sorry, I picked up the bad habit from a couple of profs. Gotta give them props for at least trying to make the UCC and Lanham Act fun.]