Purple People .... Eater

[Editor’s note; This blob is the 600th entry on what began as a lark three years ago, and now includes some 150 to 200 to 3000 (on a really big Link day) of you who actually bother to belay your handling of the Economic crisis and affairs of state long enough to come read us. Thanks to you all. It is a blast being part of this new world of communication. Oops, I forgot, it’s not communication, it’s a Blob.]

Perhaps the news about people holding Purple Inaugural tickets has not reached beyond Washington. But there were hundreds of ticketed people who missed the Inaugural because the security wizards had no idea what was going on. Instead of finding out, (and when there were actually security people around to give any info), they just didn’t allow any movement other than sending people in circles. Bad enough the ticketed Purple People didn’t ever get to their assigned seats but as the President took the oath of office, they were also stuck under 3rd Street in a huge, but totally barren tunnel (i.e. no portaJohns). It was so awful that there is even a Face Book page for these folks. And it has become known as the Purple Tunnel of Doom. Aptly named.

One of my Purple friends was fighting his way through the crowd when he noticed that Mariah Carey was right in front of him, also being kept away from her seat. He was lucky because she had police security and when they moved her through the frustrated crowd, he simply followed like he belonged and eventually worked his way to the designated area. My other friends, who were staying in Virginia, were not so lucky. They were at the Metro, as instructed, by 7am. They had purchased Metro Tickets the day before so they, unlike thousands of other people, did not have to wait in a long line trying to get tickets. The trains were so crowded it was impossible to get on without a struggle. Think Rush Hour in Tokyo. Further, the train stopped and started (not at any station) about every five minutes, so what was ordinarily a twenty minute ride, took an hour and a half. And they were incredibly nauseated by the time they arrived at their appointed stop – Judiciary Square. However, when they got to the station they were not allowed to exit and were forced to go elsewhere. These wonderful people, whose Senator thought they were worth giving tickets to, are from Nebraska. Elsewhere was a whole other issue. Further, they had their children with them and the crowds in the 3rd street tunnel (the place to which they were directed), were frightening. The children were terribly upset and finally, exhausted, and having no alternative, they made their way back to Virginia and went to sleep.

The girls were disappointed because they were supposed to do a report about the event. Their parents were disappointed because they were so looking forward to sharing this moment in history with their kids. These are not the kind of people who need special accommodations. They didn’t care about not having seats or the size of the crowd. They just wanted to be witnesses to history—and actually their area would have permitted them an actual sighting of the new President. In other words they didn’t need a giant TV in order to have the Inaugural experience.

So, does the new President and his crack staff just leave it at -- too bad shit happens? Or do they step up to the plate and offer to have those people back at the White House for a special reception, if not a reenactment of the swearing in. What if they offered tickets to the White House, (people have to pay their own way), with a sighting of the President—maybe passing by on his way to a meeting, a cup of coffee in the White House Mess and a souvenir of their trip –like a Coke from the Kennedy Center with the Presidential Seal. It’s not too much to ask to have someone acknowledge the frustration and yes, humiliation, these good people from all over the world suffered at the hands of an incompetent security brigade. Or wait, how about just a simple “we’re sorry”, instead of a multitude of stupid and inadequate excuses. And, just a reminder of stupid -- how about those bridges to Virginia. We’re just sayin’....Iris