Let’s skip the social studies class preamble. The court has already told you that participating in jury duty is your responsibility as a member of a semi-functioning democracy. Even if this appeal to your sense of civic obligation fails to move you, that doesn’t mean a day at the courthouse has to be as bad as a trip to the DMV. Here are 10 tips to prepare you for this quintessentially American experience.

1. Everyone has advice about how to get out of jury duty. None of it is useful.
2. There is no reward for being early. The first thing you’ll do after clearing security is wait in a line.
3. Be prepared to wait in lots of lines. There’s no advantage to being first or last in line. Don’t bother hurrying. The gears of justice move slowly.
4. When you’re not sitting around, you’re standing around. Don’t create bottlenecks by clustering in doorways. Make room for others.
5. Wear whatever you want. There is no reward for dressing professionally and no penalty for not doing so.
6. Bring magazines, not books, unless you have super-human powers of concentration. You will be interrupted as soon as you get to the good part, and you will lose your place. It’s harder than reading at the airport.
7. The clerks who seat juries in the courtrooms are the most invisible people in the criminal justice system. They have a thankless job, and in spite of that they are often pretty cheerful people. Be nice to them.
8. The pencil you get from the courtroom clerk will be greasy.
9. The people already waiting outside the courtrooms are usually having a bad day. Tell-tale signs include sulking, pacing, and shouting at lawyers.
10. There’s no penalty for being sleepy or hung over throughout the day. The best way to prepare the night before is by binge-watching Law and Order episodes until 2 AM.

Bonus: Even if you are dismissed without serving on a jury, be sure to tell your friends a believable story about the case you helped decide. Everybody loves a good story.