My Adventure: Glenn Beck rally, #2

My Adventures with no bathrooms

We arrived at the Smithsonian metro station about noon. I neglected to tell you in yesterday's post that while those huge crowds were waiting in those long lines, the Metro employees LOCKED THE BATHROOMS. They said with a crowd that large it was a "security threat". I was so furious, and I am still furious. It was a very big hardship for me and for everyone else to HOLD IT for 5 hours. I could sue someone, I am so mad.

Anyway, we got to the Smithsonian metro station, and the bathrooms there were locked too. So we had to walk almost to the Washington monument before we found portapotties provided by the Beck rally.

My Adventures Being So Late and So Far from the Loudspeakers

We got past the WAshington monument about noon, and the rally had started at the Lincoln memorial at 10 am. The area between the Wash. Mon. and the WWII Memorial was crowded with people walking and talking, there were no loudspeakers there so no one was sitting there to listen. Along the outskirts of that area were trees, we sat under the trees but we could barely hear the speakers when they would say a phrase or two with emphasis, but for the most part, we couldn't hear anything.

We walked forward to the WWII Memorial, but the press of people was so tight we could not get halfway past it. I could hear the loudspeakers at that place, but couldn't see past the heads of the people around me. I so much wanted to see the visual image of the thousands of people, that I handed my digital camera up to a man who was sitting on the top of one of the pillars of the WWII Memorial, and had him take a panoramic movie for me.

The crowds were standing so closely together that it was claustrophobic, and it was sunny, I couldn't stay there very long and I made my way back to sit under a tree. I felt badly that I wasn't able to see or hear but I was thankful to be part of the experience.

After all the speakers were done and the last song played, the crowd came flooding out in our direction. As is our habit after 4th of July fireworks, we sat there and let the other people go. I knew my mother was way up front, she had come with her sister at 6 am so she had a good spot. I had to wait an hour before the flood of people was lessened enough to try to walk to her. With the blessing of having cell phones, we found each other about an hour later, thats how far I was from the Lincoln Memorial, and still having to swim through the crowds like salmon going upstream.





First photo: On my way forward to find my mom, I am standing in the section between the WWII Memorial and the reflecting pool. On the right of the photo, you can see a row of three Jumbotron movie screens which the crowd in that area would have been watching during the rally. My mom was sitting beside the very front one.



Second photo: Finally found my mom, who had been very close to the front. We are standing in front of one of those big Jumbotron movie screens. You can see the steps of the Lincoln Memorial right below it.