[gacook]

I'm 37 and have hit the jury duty lottery 3 times. I've never actively tried to get out of it, but I've also never had to take the trip to the courthouse.

First time, I was living in a foreign country (military), so of course they excused me.
Second time, I was out of state on business. Called, let them know what was up, and they said OK.
Last time, Arizona's got some new thing where you call the court (or some call center--I dunno) on the Saturday before you're supposed to show up, and they tell you whether you need to actually come in or not. They said my appearance was not required.

So, thus far, I've never sat on a jury, or even through the selection process.

However, I wouldn't say that only the dredges of society get picked for JD...my mom was on a pretty high profile murder case back when I was a kid. She had no problem being in the jury (kinda extended time) because she was a stay at home mom; certainly not a dredge of society. And believe it or not, there's still a lot of people who are stay at home parents. Also, a lot of companies offer one form or another of "jury duty leave."