My commute was actually much easier than I anticipated. I opted to try the train, since it was early--before 6 a.m.--and my neighborhood had been so good. The station was very reasonable, and the train was crowded. Not World-Cup-Soccer crowded, but rush-hour crowded, except that people did not have big bags with them and were actually NICE. And everyone was so excited--it was quite a nice ride in.
So I got to work just before 6:30. The hardest part was actually getting into the museum. While I didn't have the street crossing issues that some of my colleagues did (being interrogated and re-routed by Secret Service), I did have to fight my way through the crowds along our southern edge who were waiting to get to their special seating section near the Capitol. That many people that early in the morning...it was something. The two shots below will give you an idea. This is the open seating area, 4th Street and west on the Mall, at 7:15 in the morning. And did I mention how cold it was, with a biting wind?
These were taken from our staff kitchen, just before we all hit the floor to start. Special guests were being allowed in early to avoid the crowds and get out of the cold. I started working at check-in, then moved to phones, then was pulled from there to help with elevators. For 3.5 hours, I ferried invited guests and VIPs up to the fifth floor, keeping the public on the main floors. (You see, only two elevators go to the staff floor, and only one of those is a nice elevator.)
We had private parties happening in every part of the museum with a view: the fifth floor Board room and terrace; the fourth floor conference rooms; and the third floor resource center. In the Potomac, we had a huge jumbotron for the public to watch. And I could catch snippets through the opening and closing of the elevator doors. I heard Joe Biden swear his oath; I heard parts of Yitzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma's performance; parts of Aretha Franklin's song. But my colleagues pulled me out for Barack Obama's oath, and I thank them. I then missed the speech, but could hear phrases, and certainly the cheering. It was definitely a magical place to see it. We hit capacity and security had to close the doors twice during the day (and my colleagues outside had some not-so-pleasant people to deal with, including those who busted down the Secret Service fencing, stormed the plaza, and stole some of our Pendleton chairs). But those inside were so happy and pleasant and excited. Hey, they were warm, and had a good view, good company, hot chocolate, and bathrooms! And I'm sure they didn't notice the Army sharp shooter, the Secret Service sharp shooters, and all the Secret Service and Metropolitan police throughout the building. And our police and facilities crews at Smithsonian were absolutely terrific.
Actually, to me, it's those folks throughout the city--police, facilities and work crews, and metro--who made the day work and should get all the congratulations, because that was an absolutely enormous crowd. The last photo here shows the multiple uses of museums, and some of the folks still sleeping on the floor when I left at 4, waiting for things to quiet down so they could head back to hotels or wherever. The one photo I don't have is the trash outside: everything downtown looked like a cyclone had hit it as the crowds dispersed.
I'm off the next few days, and thrilled! I have so much else to catch up on. I'll get back to Viet Nam shortly too....
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