This morning I got a call from a girlfriend who went to D.C. for the inauguration, along with her daughter and son-in-law. My friend is a black woman - darkly, gorgeously black. She grew up in the "projects" in New York City so she has had one of the worst possible experiences of growing up as a poor, minority person in this country. Barack Obama's inauguration was so important to her and her family that they made the trip to Washington for the event. Here are the highlights of what she told me:
They left their hotel at 6:00 in the morning, and drove to a friend's house in Maryland. That friend drove them to the outskirts of D.C. where they could board the Metro train. They got off the Metro at 7:00 in the morning. The weather was very, very, VERY cold. Her son-in-law recently moved to Florida from Nigeria, and he was having a hard time with the cold. He is used to the African climate, and he was suffering dreadfully in the cold.
They walked for a couple hours, moving with the streaming crowds, trying to find an entrance to "the Mall." They did not have tickets, so they were just going into the Mall as "General Admission" attendees. Each time they found an entrance, it had been closed and they had to walk further to find another entrance. Finally, they got into the Mall and then, they had to climb some stairs. There were times when the crowd got squashed into a narrow space, like a "bottleneck," and they felt like they could hardly breathe. They were fearful of being crushed to death in that pushing crowd. Those times were scary, but everything was alright, in the end.
They were far away from the Capitol, standing by the Monument, but that was OK, because there were "Jumbotrons" and a good sound system, so everyone could see the live video feed and hear the audio clearly. There were one and a half million people there - that's 1,500,000 people!!!
Everyone there was filled with a spirit of goodwill and joy. People were helping strangers who had physical problems - lending a hand and sharing whatever was necessary. Sometimes, people needed to climb over concrete barriers to get to where they needed to be. There was always someone to lean over the barrier and help another who was having trouble climbing, always someone with a spare "handwarmer" thing for those who were being overcome with the cold. The spirit of unity and "human oneness" was very much in evidence, and in practice.
Whenever there was a special moment in the ceremonies, or whenever a speaker said something inspiring, the entire crowd went crazy. My friend said that she just joined in with the crowd, screaming at the top of her lungs and jumping up and down like crazy. She said that a couple of times, the sound of the screaming crowd nearly made her faint, it was so loud.
Can you imagine the sound of 1,500,000 people screaming at the same time?
I laughed out loud when she told me how the crowd cheered for most speakers, but they booed G.W. Bush and Cheney. I couldn't agree more! Those two rascals deserved to be razzed! She said that Cheney was wheeled in on a wheelchair. That was interesting.
As far as I'm concerned, I have one sentiment for "Dubya" Bush: "Don't let the door hit your butt on your way out!" In other words, he can't run away fast enough to suit me. Good riddance to bad rubbish, that's what I think. It's such a shame that Bush has ruined the Republican party so completely. He couldn't have done more damage if he had planned it. What a disaster that man was! It will take a long time for the GOP to recover from his tenure, more is the pity.
My friend and her family left the Mall, on foot, around 3:00 in the afternoon and went to look for someplace to eat. They were finally seated at a restaurant table around 6:00 in the evening, after eleven hours of freezing outdoors. After dinner, they made their way back to their hotel, and all of them were in bed by 8:00 p.m. I'll bet they slept well in their warm beds after such a long, exhausting, exhilirating, freezing cold day.
They left their hotel at 6:00 in the morning, and drove to a friend's house in Maryland. That friend drove them to the outskirts of D.C. where they could board the Metro train. They got off the Metro at 7:00 in the morning. The weather was very, very, VERY cold. Her son-in-law recently moved to Florida from Nigeria, and he was having a hard time with the cold. He is used to the African climate, and he was suffering dreadfully in the cold.
They walked for a couple hours, moving with the streaming crowds, trying to find an entrance to "the Mall." They did not have tickets, so they were just going into the Mall as "General Admission" attendees. Each time they found an entrance, it had been closed and they had to walk further to find another entrance. Finally, they got into the Mall and then, they had to climb some stairs. There were times when the crowd got squashed into a narrow space, like a "bottleneck," and they felt like they could hardly breathe. They were fearful of being crushed to death in that pushing crowd. Those times were scary, but everything was alright, in the end.
They were far away from the Capitol, standing by the Monument, but that was OK, because there were "Jumbotrons" and a good sound system, so everyone could see the live video feed and hear the audio clearly. There were one and a half million people there - that's 1,500,000 people!!!
Everyone there was filled with a spirit of goodwill and joy. People were helping strangers who had physical problems - lending a hand and sharing whatever was necessary. Sometimes, people needed to climb over concrete barriers to get to where they needed to be. There was always someone to lean over the barrier and help another who was having trouble climbing, always someone with a spare "handwarmer" thing for those who were being overcome with the cold. The spirit of unity and "human oneness" was very much in evidence, and in practice.
Whenever there was a special moment in the ceremonies, or whenever a speaker said something inspiring, the entire crowd went crazy. My friend said that she just joined in with the crowd, screaming at the top of her lungs and jumping up and down like crazy. She said that a couple of times, the sound of the screaming crowd nearly made her faint, it was so loud.
Can you imagine the sound of 1,500,000 people screaming at the same time?
I laughed out loud when she told me how the crowd cheered for most speakers, but they booed G.W. Bush and Cheney. I couldn't agree more! Those two rascals deserved to be razzed! She said that Cheney was wheeled in on a wheelchair. That was interesting.
As far as I'm concerned, I have one sentiment for "Dubya" Bush: "Don't let the door hit your butt on your way out!" In other words, he can't run away fast enough to suit me. Good riddance to bad rubbish, that's what I think. It's such a shame that Bush has ruined the Republican party so completely. He couldn't have done more damage if he had planned it. What a disaster that man was! It will take a long time for the GOP to recover from his tenure, more is the pity.
My friend and her family left the Mall, on foot, around 3:00 in the afternoon and went to look for someplace to eat. They were finally seated at a restaurant table around 6:00 in the evening, after eleven hours of freezing outdoors. After dinner, they made their way back to their hotel, and all of them were in bed by 8:00 p.m. I'll bet they slept well in their warm beds after such a long, exhausting, exhilirating, freezing cold day.
posted by Me | 6:00 PM
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