Peregrinator
Hooded On A Hill
- Joined
- May 27, 2004
- Posts
- 89,482
I happened to be in DC this weekend. I was teaching near here, so I asked "The Office" to extend my ticket by a couple days so I could be in DC for the inauguration. It was a pretty startling thing to see. I'll post some pics, but the thing that really struck me was the energy in the crowd. I've never attended any other inauguration--never had any particular interest, and I wouldn't have bothered with this one, except that I was already here and have relatives in the area I could stay with--but from what I remember from TV and news coverage, this one was special.
The crowd was incredibly diverse and upbeat. People were really polite to each other, making room so others could see, stepping aside for people to get on/off the metro, that kind of thing. It was that kind of crowd. At one point, I was standing near the Washington Memorial and heard a woman say, "I can't see anything."
I said, "Wanna sit on my shoulders?"
She said, "Yeah."
So I knelt down and she climbed on. I stood up with this total stranger on my shoulders, and we watched the rest of Obama's speech that way. Other people in the crowd smiled at us, knowing we were strangers.
It was that kind of crowd. The whole day was full of people being courteous and polite, taking care of each other. There was a kind of energy, a kind of optimism in the air, that was great to feel around me, to be a part of.
Even though he says some things I don't like, espouses some positions I disagree with. The energy was palpable.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Peregrinator/IMG_3337.jpg
The crowd was incredibly diverse and upbeat. People were really polite to each other, making room so others could see, stepping aside for people to get on/off the metro, that kind of thing. It was that kind of crowd. At one point, I was standing near the Washington Memorial and heard a woman say, "I can't see anything."
I said, "Wanna sit on my shoulders?"
She said, "Yeah."
So I knelt down and she climbed on. I stood up with this total stranger on my shoulders, and we watched the rest of Obama's speech that way. Other people in the crowd smiled at us, knowing we were strangers.
It was that kind of crowd. The whole day was full of people being courteous and polite, taking care of each other. There was a kind of energy, a kind of optimism in the air, that was great to feel around me, to be a part of.
Even though he says some things I don't like, espouses some positions I disagree with. The energy was palpable.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Peregrinator/IMG_3337.jpg
