Rally Bench stories

Marie, Sharon & Noel on the bench

Now that we're empty-nesters, we need to fill our time somehow. So, on Saturday we arose at the crack of 7am and headed to DC to attend the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.

After a long and winding trip we arrived in a sea of humanity that flooded the national mall. As we headed down Madison, we happened upon an unoccupied bench. Initially, it looked like just a good place to take a quick rest. Little did we know that some four hours later it would become a life raft against the outgoing tide. And while we camped there, several folks came and went. Much like in the movie Forrest Gump, folks came and sat on the bench for a while. We chatted and then they moved on. Some of our new friends included:

• Woman from Houston who had just moved to DC this week along with her husband. She has a new job at the Department of Labor that begins on Monday. She stopped and watched along with us, and after an hour or so, decided she'd had enough and headed home.
• Several folks stopped by to stand on our bench to provide a bit better view in hopes of finding their missing spouse/children/friend. Of the several, only one was successful.
• Button lady stopped for a brief rest. She was headed down to 7th to set up shop. We ran into her after the event
• Marie was one of the folks with missing family - borrowed the bench for a vantage point. And ended up staying for the duration. She and her sister Ann and a variety of their children came down from New Jersey and stayed in a hotel in Columbia, drove to Silver Spring and took the metro in. So, the crowd had spit Marie out to us. Ann wandered by a number of minutes later - the kids didn't show up until after the rally. Marie had gone to grade school with Bruce Springsteen (she was in 1st grade, he in 8th).
  
• The BEST was Noel, who also wanted a slight height advantage. She was trying to catch up with her match.com first date. Yes, they were meeting for the first time at a rally of some two hundred thousand people. So, we tried to help get Noel and her date Mark together by offering hints as to how they could actually find one another. As it turned out, our bench was next to the only car parked on Madison between 4th & 7th, but that apparently wasn't enough of a clue. We were a bit worried when Mark described his clothing as "I'm wearing jeans". However, he was also theoretically carrying a rose (good touch Mark). Well, I haven't ever checked out so many guys looking for that damn rose. And it just wasn't happening. Noel & Mark decided that the corner of 7th and Madison would be a better place to meet. At 3:00. When the Rally was over. After all of the waiting, Sharon and I (and Marie & Ann) REALLY wanted to see how it came out - if Mark and Noel ever got together. So I volunteered to go scope out and see what came out of the woodwork. Huge mistake. As mentioned, the Rally ended at three and the sea of reasonableness began moving off of the mall via the corner of 7th and Madison. And there I was, staring up at that ocean wave that can do nothing but hit me square in the chest. I clung to life behind the information pole then began my steady swim upstream - back to the safety of the bench. Some fifteen minutes later the oasis came into view and I climbed aboard. As to Noel and Mark, we'll never know... we both hope it works out for the best.

Even though we couldn't see or hear much, the microculture of our bench made the whole event well worth it. Our bench of reasonableness.