(So Far)
Hey everyone! Hope you had a good weekend! Today I want to talk about things I don't normally talk about on the blog; Politics and people. Don't run away screaming yet! I've promise it won't get too intense. It's mostly just about my past experiences and how I came to do a complete 180 on my feelings about the topic.
In my junior year of high school ('10-'11) I did the most traveling I have ever done in my life in a short period. I got to go to New York, California, and Washington DC. Those trips were each amazing and special in their own ways but the one that has truly stuck with me the most was when I got to attend the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.
Growing up my dad was very vocal about his political opinion, and boy did he have an opinion on everything. Seeing how heated him and other adults got when they discussed this "politics" made me know that I didn't want to touch that thing with a 10 ft. pole. So I didn't. I did my best to ignore anything that had to do with learning about people who ran our country and what they were doing with it. I remember friends discussing presidential candidates during lunch in 8th grade and me just doing my best to ignore it. That would change soon though.
In high school I made friends with kids in my drama classes who I still know and love to this day. One of those, Josh, who is now one of my room mates actually, was very into politics. He's also great at explaining stuff and really funny, so he used to tell me and my other friend Barrett historical political tales. Mostly at first I just liked learning about the scandals but Barrett and Josh's discussions actually interested and fascinated me and I started participating and reading news articles and stuff I never would have done years ago. I had...matured.
I began watching the Daily Show and The Colbert report soon and then I was hooked. I did my best to tune in every night, where instead of just reading the regular news and getting sad and having to decide who was actually telling the truth and what consequences that would have and so on and so forth I could take a step back and look at politics in a more absurd/dry sort of way. I'm not saying it's not important to take in information from places that aren't a comedy channel, I'm saying that finding a way to laugh at the awful things that happen on a day to day basis helps you not go crazy a little. At least in my opinion.
When I watched John announce his plan for a rally my heart drooped because I knew there was no way I'd ever get to go. It sparked Josh's moms interest though and Josh and I did our best to stroke that spark into a flame. It worked, I couldn't believe it! I was getting to go visit the nations capital and attend a once in a lifetime event that had only been a pipe dream mere weeks before.
Unfortunately I hadn't taken any sort of photography class before I went on this trip and I didn't know exactly what I was doing. Just that I wanted to document this moment forever, at least I was successful there.
As John Stewart would say, "There's always one of these at any rally!"
The way they had the Rally set up was like this; there was a pen closest to the stage which was the VIP section, then there was the equipment (speakers, screens, monitors, light/sound boards), and then there was the public. We woke up before the sun had made an appearance and hopped on the first subway of the day (6:30 I believe?.) Even arriving that early there were still hundreds if not thousands of people already there. We were a little dissapointed because we wanted a good view, even with the giant screens all around that would be broadcasting the stage. I was not to be deterred though, and I wanted to explore/look at all of the people so we wove our way through the crowds. Up near the very front fence we found a miraculously clear 6 ft. circle. We couldn't believe it! We excitedly pushed our way to the spot and asked the woman with the awesome hat below, if the spot was being saved (even though we probably wouldn't have respected her "dibs" anyway.) She was really nice and funny though, we loved hanging out with her.
I was so excited that I could see these two men without looking at the monitors. I was fangirling hardcore.
The fact that I got to experience this even with ~ 215,000 people blew my mind. The energy was indescribable and the event itself was amazing. I also got to visit a few of the Smithsonian Museums the day before the rally, but that paled in comparison.
I greatly admire Stephan and John and still can't believe I got to be there to support them. I am actually really missing Colbert right now, but also super enjoying Larry Wilmore's new show The Nightly Show. That just started last week and is now helping dull the pain.
Til Next Time!
No comments:
Post a Comment