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Edited on Fri Mar-27-09 06:05 PM by Solomon
The first thing is, I have to say, there were more people there than I have ever been inside of. More than Times Square in New York if you can imagine the bumping and crushing of people. The D.C. Police could have down a better job. They should have had bullhorns and signs directing where people should go. But as they always do, they stood there telling people where they couldn't go.
My wife and I were invited down there to an office on 6th and Pennsylvania. There was a whole lot of pre-arranged things. We were given specific instructions on what subway stop we were to get off at, what street we had to go to where our gate was, etc. My wife and I had badges, etc. When we got off the subway, which was packed at 5:00 a.m., there was a massive crowd all being funneled to the street we were told to get too. I'm sure they had different sections serve as funnels.
As we were walking toward the street that we were supposed to go to, I noticed an alley that was not being guarded by the police. I wondered as I walked by, "why don't we just cut through here". But like sheep we herded on down to as far as we could get, and then you just stop. The closer you got, the more the crush was because there are always a certain amount of assholes who insist on pushing there way to the front. And there's literally nowhere to push your way to. Anyway we stood there for a long time, everybody wondering, and relying on the rumor that there was a gate down there somewhere so this is where we have to wait. But it was clear after a while, there must have been nobody going through the "gate". Meanwhile, the police, weren't telling anybody anything. No signs, no bullhorns. Just guarding where you couldn't go.
After I don't know how long we waited there, I took my wife back out and went through the alley I had seen earlier.
This put us on the next street down and there were very few, maybe one or two people on this street. We only had about two to three blocks from there to get to the office building, 6th and Penn. Ave.
They had blockades at both ends of the street, with officers there and we went up and showed them our badges, etc. They didn't seem to have the authority to just let us through. I mean, they were nice enough about it, but somebody who could say "go on through" had to be found. Meanwhile, it was freezing out there, and just to the right of the barricade, there was an Au Bon Pain Restaurant, open early to get the business, and standing room only customers in it. We went in there and I didn't mind waiting in a long line, because it was cold as hell outside.
This Au Bon Pain was sitting on a sharply angled corner, and had two doors, the other door opened on to the next street we needed to get to. So we went out through the other door and walked down, finally to the final gate that was to let us through. It was obviously set up to handle a smaller crowd. It was right there behind the building that we were going to. Alas, after at lot of time, and a lot of being told conflicting things by the officials,
we finally got through and got into the building.
There were several people also invited, who were not able to get in for one reason or another, the chief of which was, if you didn't bother to get up at 2 or 3 in the morning and get your butt down there, you weren't going to get in. That's why it hurts so much too, if you were one of the ones who started early but still didn't get in.
Anyway, I was shocked and stunned when I read the paper the next morning. The paper reported that the mass of people standing on the street that we were funneled to, never got through that way. I was stunned. It seems as though the reason the cops couldn't tell anybody anything, is that they didn't know anything either, except where to tell people they couldn't go.
Then I thought, If I hadn't gone down that alley, and then through that store, we probably wouldn't have made it.
All of that being said, I have to say, given the amount of people there, it was a hell of a job pulling it off, even as I moan about some people getting shafted.
The other thing that's different with me is, I live right here in the DC area, so I didn't bear an expense of coming from out of town.
I did go down to Denver for the convention and I remember making absolutly sure, before I committed that kind of expense that we would get in. That's why I know that everybody who got shafted this time who came from out of town made the same preparations. It increases the frustration, because you do so much before hand. Even with all the preparation, I was still worried about really getting in. You never know what can happen and don't know what to expect, except long lines.
Denver was an ok experience because there they had one line. It was long as hell, but one line. Of course there wasn't as many people so a one line set-up would work.
I would still be fuming if I had msde all those preparations, got out to Denver, and then couldn't get in. So I know how people who went through this must be suffering.
Later I talked with a friend who took his family down there and he went through the tunnel. He was talking about how cold it was and how long the line was and how they had to wait, but somehow, they got through. They must have cut off the tunnel at some point because the paper also reported that many were told to go through the tunnel and they couldn't get through.
(Sorry for the long post, but you seem to want to know what it was like there)
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