6:30 Wake up! My subletter in Houghton called me at 12:30 AM to figure out how to get into my apartment for the semester. After I told him to go through the front door, down the hall, and into my apartment, we got it all cleared up and I fell asleep, only to rise 6 hours later. Only it was definitely worth the grogginess, what I was getting up for.
7:15 We're out the door, my two roommates, Colin and Kate, and walking to the action. We took G NE to Union Station, which is about a 15 minute walk. After that, I'm not sure where we went, but we encountered some of the crowds.
There were a few levels of ticket holders, people who got to stand or sit closer to the Capitol. I think about 250,000 tickets were distributed. We didn't get any of them, but we accidentally entered ticketed line which had snaked around this street that got blocked off at the end by a Metrobus. This snaked line prevented anyone from moving (see picture) anywhere and the people kept on coming despite the dead-end. 
One of the most surreal moments of my life then took place when, in the middle of this mass of humanity, none other than the Rev. Jesse Jackson decided to appear from a doorway (looking a little stunned, as you can see). He gave a quick smile, walked 3 feet away from me, and disappeared into the crowd. This only added to the chaos. Twenty minutes later, we all turned around after some jostling, and decided to chart a new course. We then lost Kate, who was smart and went to watch the events at home sans the gigantic crowd. 9:00 After deciding that we had initially turned too soon, Colin and I forged on, taking D street to 6th in hopes of getting in line there to see Obama before he was sworn in. We had three hours. After a short walk, we got to 6th street, where my map had said there was a checkpoint to let people in. A rapidly growing crowd was gathering at the street corner, which was blocked by police, concrete barriers, and police tape. They were only letting 100 people (it looked like a lot less) go at a time, in some delusional crowd control scheme. Well, a lot more than 100 people were waiting and the crowd was growing restless. An older gentleman rebuked the mega phone-wielding police officer telling us to move back with a polite "Please tell us when we will get in." The cop didn't answer his plea. Soon, after letting some emergency vehicles go by (at the expense, almost, of people's toes), the police gave up and the crowd jumped the barriers. It felt like a 5K the way people rushed down that block. You almost knew that we were only rushing towards another logjam. I was right - two blocks later a metal security cage was slowly letting people go through, there was no way we were waiting. Plus, we wanted to see the ceremony, this line was for the parade. I'm glad we asked someone.
10:00 Despair sets in. We decide to make one last-ditch effort, to walk the entire length of the Mall, parallel to it, to get to the Lincoln Memorial. We get pushed farther and farther north, trying to travel west towards the Memorial, but we eventually make it past the White House and on to 18th street, where we head due south and see a glorious sight.
Well, it doesn't look like much, but we see blocks and blocks of people walking without a roadblock in sight! Salvation is within our grasp. We get to the park near the WWII and Lincoln Memorials and we can finally move freely, but the crowd is pouring from the streets and we rush to find a spot to stand near a jumbo tron. What a spectacle - tens, hundreds of thousands of people cascading onto the dormant grass around some of the most recognizable landmarks our nation has to offer. All to see one man. I'll post a little bit about the actual event later, but it's back to the daily grind tomorrow, so I should sleep. I have some cool videos to share too, so stay tuned. It's going to be a good four years.
No comments:
Post a Comment