welcome to dc
it was pretty awkward today walking the few blocks to and from work when virtually no one was around (veterans day + federal buildings = empty city blocks). i got off the metro at my stop and almost thought i was in the wrong place; even the train was quieter. and on the way out, seeing as it’s totally dark when i leave work, i definitely walked a lot faster- the area is safe, but with no one around, it sure as all get up was creepy.
dc is an interesting place to work. it sounds silly to say, but i just realized how much this city revolves around politics. people do so much work that you can barely perceive. i’m still having trouble seeing how it connects to events on the ground (but it must, right?). rank, schmoozing, precedent, public opinion, closed-door, agenda- all these terms, ideas, entities- inexplicably networked like a jacked up spiderweb. and the center of it all, or at least what i think is the center- capitol hill. bullseye- so many aim, so few hit the exact center.
i had it in my head that i wanted to get a library card for The Library (of congress). because i wanted it. just because. (i like having access to things that say you can have access to them). so i went to get it and the lady says i’m supposed to be doing research and they don’t just give them out to anyone. hey hey- i can read, and i read the fine print, and it did not say that. i work a block away, doe eyes, complete honesty, feigned concern- it’s too early in the morning for her to argue with the first girl who walks in the door, and i get the card. “she doesnt normally do this”- aha! precedence. but precedence that in such situations, you tactfully do not point out, because once the words leave their mouth is when they realize their error, and that’s when you’ve won. lucky for me i typed in ‘agriculture’ and ‘religion’ as my preferred topics of research (oh yeah- you have to go through this process of registering for the card, they take your picture, it feels like you’re at the dmv but you can beat the lines), which means that my subjects are in the pretty building. pretty building = the one tourists ogle at. now i just have to get up the guts and actually go.