Pretending Not To Know The Language Is A Great Strategy In Many Scenarios!

Two months after I start a new job, I get a jury summons in the mail. I work in a nail salon owned by a Vietnamese man and I am the only non-Asian technician working at the salon. At this point in my career, I’m not sure if I will be able to explain to him what the jury summons means in regard to missing work and that not showing up for the summons can get you in some legal hot water.

Luckily, when I bring my summons to show him, he seems to understand (to some degree) the importance of it. He even has received some in the mail in the past. He does know, also, that sometimes individuals can actually “get out of” jury duty with certain acceptable exceptions and asks if I’ve tried that route. However:

Me: “Actually, I had a jury summons a few months ago that I had to call and ask to be excused from because I was actively job searching and had almost no money at the time.”

Boss: “Oh. See, when I would go to those, I just say my English is no good and they tell me I can go.”

Me: *Pauses* “Yeah, well, there’s no way I can convincingly use that excuse.”

My boss laughed hysterically.

I attended my jury duty that following Monday and ended up not being selected and therefore not disrupting my work week!