Thursday, January 20, 2005

Inauguration? What Inauguration?!

Ignoring the inaugural festivities today as much as possible. I don't have to cover it, thank god. We already have at least two reporters doing that. One of my friends, who reports for The Washington Post, actually left town for a week so she wouldn't have to cover any of the overblown inaugural pomp and circumstance.

The city seems as secure as a fortress: Many downtown streets are blocked off, as are some of the Metro subway stops. Men in black with machine guns and bomb-sniffing dogs stand at the ready, and snipers crouch on federal rooftops.

Today's also a federal holiday, so the Metro would've been fairly empty on my commute this morning except for the thousands upon thousands of tourists who have descended on our fair city like a swarm of locusts.

Kidding about the locust part. Okay, maybe not.

Note to tourists taking the Metro: Do not dawdle or block entrances or exits. People are trying to get around you. When on an escalator, walk left or stand right. Otherwise, you'll have a bunch of fast-walking Washingtonians steaming behind you and quite possibly telling you sternly to "Move it!"

I must say that the tourists are a hardy bunch, though. They're standing at least 20 deep on Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, in the bitter cold, hoping to catch a glimpse of a man I can't listen to without wincing in embarrassment.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Bex,
    I didn't even know the Inauguration was today. I ignored it too. I didn't really care because I did not vote for Dubya and I don't like him. That made me think about the scene in "Fahrenheit 9/11" when on Bush's first inauguration his car got pelted with eggs. Serves him right.

    Good luck in the Vegas marathon! I'll have to check to see if I'll be off that day to cheer you on! :-)

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  2. Was that a $40M affair? Didn't we tell the soldiers in Iraq we didn't have the funding to put more armor plating on their Humvees? Seems a little selfish to put on a giant multimillion dollar party while our soldiers are dying in a war.

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