There is a man who sits on the end of the first bench in the
Anacostia metro station nearly every morning. I’ve started calling him
Chapstick Man, because he has a large suitcase nearly spilling over with
chapstick, and he has two shotgun shell belts slung across each shoulder,
classic Rambo-style, filled with “rounds” of chapstick. He’s a regular
there at the station, and people frequently buy from him.
It has rained every day in the morning that I’ve gone to my
internship but one or two, prompting me to buy a new umbrella – the
pocket-edition just doesn’t cut it, and I end up wearing a darker shade of grey
by the time I arrive at the Capitol South stop. I’ve figured out exactly
which metro-car I need to get on to be closest to the escalator at each stop,
and I’m getting to where I don’t need to pay attention to where I’m walking on
my morning commute. The routine in that is nice.
Now, a week
or two after I wrote those first two paragraphs, Virginia has a job at the
Family Research Council. It hasn’t
rained a day on us since she’s gotten a job, making the morning commute that
much nicer. We usually part ways at L’Enfant
Plaza, and yesterday, I saw a man get tazed as he tried to graffiti a metro
car. Never a dull moment here in DC.
Today, I
literally ran into Marco Rubio and John McCain.
There are “superstars” like them all over the buildings I work in, and I
am continually star-struck, regardless of my political affiliation. The job search is still going for me, but I’ve
met tons of interesting people – most of them Chiefs of Staff. Virginia kids with me all the time that she
lounges around look at Facebook on the weekends, while I’m emailing some of the
most powerful people in the nation. But
she’s currently the one bringing home the bacon, so I consider this to be a
moot point.
During my
time here, I have resolved even further that – once I “make it” – I am going to
do everything I can to help aspiring “little people.” Both the people who have been extremely
helpful to me and the people who haven’t have shown me the importance of
investing in the “up-and-coming.” And I
can’t wait until I’m up high enough on the pecking order to do that. I’ll start as soon as I can.
Things I’ve
been thinking about recently:
1)
I’d love to go to a Nats/DC United game.
2)
Wanna shut down Congress? Start an Interns Union
and go on strike. #freelabor
3)
I need to play my trumpet more.
4)
I want to work Senate side.
I’ll write
again soon.
J