OK, I just got back from the wave of humanity. Below will be a little taste of my day getting into, around, and back out of the city. I was lucky enough to get a purple ticket, but having a ticket didn't make the day much easier! Just a few pictures and an explanation of the diary title quote.
I left my house today at 6:15 a.m. to catch a Metro train at the Takoma station. I parked a block away from the station at a parking meter. I definitely got lucky. I got on a train with no problems at all. Unfortunately, after one stop, the train ahead of us stopped because of mechanical problems. The train had to be emptied and removed from the tracks. That delayed trains coming down that portion of the Red Line for about 10-15 minutes. I got out at Judiciary Square as recommended for my ticket location.
The confusion started there and only got much, much worse. It was soon rapidly clear that no one was really directing people toward gates or providing clear instructions. You would think the District police did not own bullhorns or megaphones. A little direction would have gone a long, long way today to make things easier and a little more clear. I walked down to 1 St NW and D hoping to walk down 1 St to the Purple Gate as shown on the back of my ticket. I was in a huge crowd of people for almost 1.5 hours that wasn't moving. We all thought we were in a line to the gate. Police told us we were in a line to the gate. Wrong. Here is what that scene looked like:
While standing there, Jesse Jackson and crew walked by us causing a minor stir. A few minutes later a woman passed out next to me. Even though we could see the EMTs across the road, we had a hard time getting their attention. We had 20 people chanting "EMT!" and that finally got their attention. The woman had to be taken out on a gurney, but she was on the grown for several minutes before anyone came to her aid.
Finally, a group of decided to walk around the block. We met another set of police that said the Purple Line was still blocks away down 1 St NW. We hit the path and ran down closer to where we could even see a sign that said "Purple Gate." Yes, we must be getting closer!
If you look closely in the background of the above photo, you can see a banner that says "Purple Gate." It is to the right of the person in the middle of the picture wearing the black coat standing on the barricade. Everyone in line thought they were lined up for that gate. Uh, wrong. Again, no one there making announcements or directing people. This was the scene looking North up 1 St. NW...all purple ticket holders thinking they were in line:
Finally another group and I decided to make a break for it as we had been standing there for almost an hour with no movement. We decided to walk until we found a fence, and then walk along it until we found a gate or opening...or someone that could tell us some credible information. Eventually we can across this opening:
It was a mad house. This was the real purple gate. No markings, nothing. And the mass of people were pushing behind us. They were letting about ten people in at a time. By this time it was 10:50...and there was still blocks of people thinking they were in line for a gate...and weren't. At 10:55 a.m. I was through security and the metal detectors. At that time, a chant rose throw the crowd: "LET US IN!" Even despite the confusion, people were generally in a good mood and took it in stride.
As we approached the purple section, we were told it was full, so we were directed to an overflow region adjacent to the purple section.
Eventually even that side walk would be full of people. The officers had absolutely no control over the crowd. Many people were frustrated with the overflow area so they just knocked down the security fences and walked over them to gain access to other standing areas.
The crowd was still very excited and in a good mood. Each time a popular Democrat was shown on the jumbo screen, the crowd cheered. You could hear the cheers from way back on The Mall. You could definitely hear "Boos" as Bush was introduced. I was clapping when they announced his name. The woman next to me asked, "Why are you applauding that man?" I responded, "I am applauding the departure, not the man." There was also a quick chant of "Na, Na, Na, Na, ...Hey, Hey, Goodbye." I think I captured it on my video shot. The crowd would periodically begin to chant "Obama!" The energy was amazing. It was definitely worth the wait to hear his Inaugural Address. I did record portions of it. I was near the big guns for the 21 gun salute, so that was pretty loud. Here are the guns:
After the address, I decided to hit the trail back to Union Station. I took a couple other pics along the way:
All in all, it was an amazing day and I was glad to be there.