8/5/05
I am at the combined Democratic / Republican National Convention which is taking place underground. The building is about a mile long but only seventy-five feet wide. There are underground parking lots at each end of the building.
There are no windows in the building. Doors separate the length of the building into many sections - like train cars. The only way to pass between sections is through secured doors. Some people have keys, others use keypads to enter codes, still others uses card keys. No one, except me, would ever think of passing through without proper access. Since I have no key, I just wait for someone I know to open the door and follow them through.
I started on the Republican side. There are tables and booths set up displaying bumper stickers, t-shirts and reading material. Everything is neat and tidy. Everyone proceeds in an orderly manner.
I want to move to the Democratic side and follow friends through the locked exit/entryways between sections until I am at the opposite end. Passing through the sections I noticed that there were many free handouts being offered at the different booths: key-chains, t-shirts, small snack bags...
My intent is to proceed from this side to the other and collect all of the goodies that are being handed out. As I look around, I notice that things are not like they were on the other side. People are not organized and move chaotically back and forth, bumping into one another. The booths are in disarray with free handout items scattered on the tables or on the floor.
The friend that I followed into this last section has gone to the restroom and while I wait for her to return, I look for things that we might like to pick up. I find a t-shirt that cleverly looks like it has been worn to paint a house. There is a catchy logo that relates Democratic values to housepainting. I pick one up and look around for other handouts.
There is a booth offering snack bags that contain bad airline food: a dry turkey sandwich, chips and a cookie. My friend returns and I tell her to grab one of the t-shirts but to avoid the snack food.
We start towards the booth with the t-shirt and I begin to notice that there are homeless people setting out blankets and card tables and arranging lots of run-down goods on them. From old newspapers to toasters to umbrellas, they are filling the aisles with all kinds of stuff.
Unlike the handouts, the stuff being set out by the homeless is not for free. It is getting difficult to determine what is free and what needs to be paid for.
We are still trying to make our way back to the t-shirt booth but we keep stepping on blankets packed with these homeless people's wares. They scowl at us as we try to navigate through their space.
Very frustrated, we decide to give up. Remembering how neat and orderly everything was on the other side, we try to make our way through the sections so that we can collect things over there. It is very slow going.
There are no windows in the building. Doors separate the length of the building into many sections - like train cars. The only way to pass between sections is through secured doors. Some people have keys, others use keypads to enter codes, still others uses card keys. No one, except me, would ever think of passing through without proper access. Since I have no key, I just wait for someone I know to open the door and follow them through.
I started on the Republican side. There are tables and booths set up displaying bumper stickers, t-shirts and reading material. Everything is neat and tidy. Everyone proceeds in an orderly manner.
I want to move to the Democratic side and follow friends through the locked exit/entryways between sections until I am at the opposite end. Passing through the sections I noticed that there were many free handouts being offered at the different booths: key-chains, t-shirts, small snack bags...
My intent is to proceed from this side to the other and collect all of the goodies that are being handed out. As I look around, I notice that things are not like they were on the other side. People are not organized and move chaotically back and forth, bumping into one another. The booths are in disarray with free handout items scattered on the tables or on the floor.
The friend that I followed into this last section has gone to the restroom and while I wait for her to return, I look for things that we might like to pick up. I find a t-shirt that cleverly looks like it has been worn to paint a house. There is a catchy logo that relates Democratic values to housepainting. I pick one up and look around for other handouts.
There is a booth offering snack bags that contain bad airline food: a dry turkey sandwich, chips and a cookie. My friend returns and I tell her to grab one of the t-shirts but to avoid the snack food.
We start towards the booth with the t-shirt and I begin to notice that there are homeless people setting out blankets and card tables and arranging lots of run-down goods on them. From old newspapers to toasters to umbrellas, they are filling the aisles with all kinds of stuff.
Unlike the handouts, the stuff being set out by the homeless is not for free. It is getting difficult to determine what is free and what needs to be paid for.
We are still trying to make our way back to the t-shirt booth but we keep stepping on blankets packed with these homeless people's wares. They scowl at us as we try to navigate through their space.
Very frustrated, we decide to give up. Remembering how neat and orderly everything was on the other side, we try to make our way through the sections so that we can collect things over there. It is very slow going.
posted by GFK at 7:13 AM
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