The Inauguration of Barack Obama: A Spectator’s Point of View (Part 1) January 31, 2009

There is really no excuse for how long it has taken me to post this. I had less than half of it written the day after the Inauguration, but somehow life got in the way, and I’m just finishing it tonight. I apologize.

 

Ok, let’s start at the very beginning (Julie Andrews says it’s a very good place to start).

January 19, 11 pm: I decide it’s time for bed since I have to be up at 3. After getting up about 6 times to set out things I will need for the big day, I am finally ready to go to sleep around 12.
January 20, 2:30 am: I wake up. And just like those kids in the Disney World commercials, “I’m too excited to sleep!!” And since the alarm is going to go off in half an hour, I decide to go ahead and get up and start getting ready. If I had gone back to sleep, the alarm would have just scared the crap out of me and put me in a really rotten mood. I start by putting on my 3 layers of pants: first some fuscia tights I found on sale at Target. Next, thermal pants (“Long Johns”) and my favorite black pants. I only put on 1 shirt layer so that I don’t get all hot and sweaty running around the house.
3:00 am: I eat some pop tarts and have a glass of water, brush my teeth, put on makeup (I have no idea why…), and grab all my things (other shirt layers, scarf, gloves, hat, hand warmers, water bottle, phone, camera, camera batteries, memory cards, chapstick, and snacks).
3:45 am: Hit the road. From my friend’s house to the Vienna Metro station is 2 hours with normal, everyday traffic. I have budgeted 5. There is almost no traffic until I get about 8 miles from the station, and then it starts to pick up a bit, really like normal rush hour traffic (only it’s 5am), but it’s still not bad. Then, once I’m only 2 miles from the exit to the station, WHAM. Not moving. It took me 2 hours to go those 2 miles. I parked in the parking garage and made my way to the line. It must have been my lucky day because a train was waiting–and it had SEATS! I quickly made my way onto the train and sat down. Within 2 minutes, all the seats were taken and there were a few people standing (keep in mind that Vienna is the FIRST stop on this route). After maybe 5 minutes, the doors close and the train starts moving. At the next station, maybe 10 more people crowd onto just the car I’m in (I can’t see the other cars, but I’m sure it was the same there). It’s a little more crowded, but there is still some room. We go 2 more stops and there is no standing room ANYWHERE. I have never seen a train so crowded. Everyone is jammed in so tight that nobody even has to hold on–there was no room to fall! We hear the driver tell us that there is a delay at Rosslyn station, so we will be sitting for a few minutes. I am sleepy, so I doze off. I’m not really sure how long we were stopped. Once we are close to our destination, the driver informs us that we won’t be stopping at Federal Center (the closest to the Mall, I think) due to crowding. He suggests getting off at McPherson Square and walking, so I do.
9:36 am: I make my way up the escalator (that is turned off because there are too many people) and out into DC. I have absolutely no idea where I’m going (somehow I missed the maps that some people had), so I just follow the crowd, hoping they’re going to the Mall and not the parade route….Normally, I would be complaining about the distance, but this time it was exhilarating (I think it ended up being around 18 blocks). The air was cold, but the wind wasn’t harsh. There were hundreds of people in every direction. People were singing, chanting, everyone was so kind and happy. The mood was just that of elation. 
10:00 am (approximately): I can see the Washington Monument. It is beautiful! I’m standing at 18th and Virginia Avenue, texting with a friend who is also there. She wants to try to meet up. I figure the odds are very low that we’ll be able to find each other in the crowd, but we decide to try anyway. I make my way onto the Mall (there is a big open area, and I’m encouraged that the crowd won’t be quite so bad, but then the closer I get to the Monument, the denser the crowd becomes). I realize that there is NO way I will be able to get to where Jenny is (on the other side of the monument and up a few hundred feet from where I am). But, I am in view of a screen and I can hear the music, so I decide to find a spot and stay put–I am between the White House (on my left) and the Washington Monument (on my right)–the Capitol building is so far in the distance and there are so many people between me and it that I can only see the very tip of the spire on top of the rotunda. At first, my spot is great. I have plenty of room and no one is obstructing my view. Perfect, I think. But as time wears on, people start crossing in front of me, moving to my left (there was still a bit of a clearing over there). Probably somewhere around 70 people walk past me, and even more begin to crowd in where I am standing. It’s a very good thing that I like crowds and don’t get nervous or panicky in tight spaces. A person with claustrophobia would be on the ground, rocking back and forth in the fetal position. There was NO room to move (it was nearly as crowded as the train had been that morning), and even more people were trying to push their way through. My good mood (and patience) were gone. I didn’t attack anyone, but I stood stone still when people tried to push their way past me. That seemed to be the only way to keep a space big enough to stand in and not be pushed down on top of other people. At this point, I was ready for things to get started so that they could be over and the crowd would disperse. Little did I know, this was just the beginning of the mess.
10:45 (ish) am: Various important people are announced and seen entering. There is a lot of cheering, but I am surprised by the boos–there are nearly as many jeers as cheers.
A quick list of those receiving cheers:                                          Those receiving jeers:
Bill and Hillary Clinton (of course)                                                 Joe Lieberman (I was a bit surprised!)
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid                                                            George H W and Barbara Bush
Al and Tipper Gore                                                                                Dick Cheney (even I couldn’t resist)
and eventually the First Family-to be                                           George W and Laura Bush (including the ”Na na na na, hey
                                                                                                                       hey hey, goodbye” song)
I wasn’t really sure if the cheers and booing would be heard by those watching on TV or not (I thought the stations might turn down the sound on the crowd in an attempt to censor what was going on). Since I haven’t had a chance to watch the DVDs I made of the TV coverage I missed, I still don’t know the answer to that question. For the record, I did not join in on the “Na na hey hey” song–it was not noon yet, and no matter how much I dislike George W, he was at that time, still President, and I have respect for the office (if not for the man holding it).

Past this point, there isn’t a whole lot to tell about the ceremony, since you all probably saw it on TV. (and honestly, I need to go watch it myself to refresh my memories of what was happening in the crowd during everything.)

I’ll call this post Part 1 and I will continue the story soon (I am learning not to put a deadline on these things because then people get their hopes up and I get behind and feel guilty).