Washington, D.C. trip report

I spent the day in Washington, D.C. We started out with a trip to the Natural History museum, finding a parking space right in front of the building and going in (admission free, but security check required) to chase after a 2.5-year-old girl who loves elephants, butterflies, and almost everything in between. She pointed at a Clownfish in the aquarium and said “Nemo!”. The Washington Mall now offers free WiFi in addition to free museums.

Next stop was East Capitol Hill, a neighborhood I would have been afraid to visit in the 1970s. We walked a Samoyed bitch from her home on 10th Street Southeast to Lincoln Park. Most of the row houses have been renovated and many sported beautiful gardens. The Park at lunch time was patronized by nannies strolling babies, white people walking Labs and Goldens, and black guys walking unneutered Pit Bulls. In a city that supposedly has bountiful jobs for everyone, I was distressed to see a woman reading How to Be the Employee Your Company Can’t Live Without.

Next stop was Eastern Market and the surrounding shops, then a trip down into the Metro for a ride to National Airport. Some of the Metro stations have been almost blanketed with advertising banners from vendors trying to sell things to the Federal Government. Today it was Dell selling some sort of security system. Everything at the airport that was run by the government was shiny and modern. The Cesar Pelli terminal, opened in 1997, glittered with glass and steel. The TSA had new signs proudly proclaiming their use of millimeter wave technology and the TSA machines indeed gleamed with shiny newness and sophistication.

Stepping out of the government- and tax-funded world into the private sector was rather a let-down. The 15-year-old regional jet that I boarded for the flight to Boston was one step from either the glue factory or flying the lords of poverty around Africa. After the one-hour fight, I boarded the MBTA for what turned out to be a one-hour trip to Harvard Square (it is about 7 miles away by road). During the many pauses, I read Super Sad True Love Story, which promises to be a near-great novel, while the young couple next to me were riveted to a videogame on their touchscreen smartphone (Samsung/Sprint). The marketing for smartphones stresses all kinds of business uses for these devices, but I wonder if the main use won’t end up being brain-wasting games (just as TV was originally thought to be a place where Harvard and Yale lectures would be distributed to America’s living rooms).

By the time I stepped out of the MBTA Red Line train, I had heard approximately 50 recorded announcements over public-address systems in the various airports and mass transit systems. These reminded me to be alert for suspicious behavior by fellow passengers and to report unattended baggage.