Friday, July 2, 2010

Points of Interest.

Now that I am back to my suburban roots in good ole' Tennessee, there are several things that I feel are worthy of sharing- points of interest, if you will, about the political, corporate world that is Washington D.C.
Though this was not my first time visiting the city, it was my first time in seeing it from more of a local's perspective rather than a tourist.

Some things to make note of (in no particular order and with little readable fluidity):
-- The 5 cent bag surcharge implemented by the city for environmental purposes. As I was checking out of Barnes & Noble, the clerk politely asked if I would like a bag. Well, yes of course. Brief confusion passed my mind as he promptly punched something into his cash register keyboard. Shrugging it off, I later took a glance at the receipt and noticed that I had indeed been charged a "bag fee."
-- In the elevators of my dad's office building there is a T.V. It seemed logical. Persons in that line of work need to stay up to date on current events, after all. However, between each segment of viewing, a slide appeared with bold white letters that stated, "To save you from the awkward small talk."
Is small talk truly that taxing of an affair? That much of an inconvenience? Really?
-- I've always grown up to believe that it was rude to talk on the phone during a dinner, but D.C. has an entirely different standard of etiquette what with the predominant business apt mindset amongst its civilians. 
-- And finally, a true occurrence for your pleasure: 
Location: dad's office building
Persons involved: Three men (my dad being one of them) 
Action: Men are walking through 2 sets of glass doors. 
All men are dressed from head to toe in frighteningly similar attire. All have their iPhones in hand. All are frantically going to work with their thumbs. All seemed to severely lack basic multitasking skills- like texting and opening a door at the same time. It was the most intense 2.1 seconds of my life. These grown men who were undoubtedly in great position of responsibility and authority in their places of business had the worst time opening these two sets of doors. I was scared for my life as doors came slamming into my face from all directions. I also consistently stepped on the heels of one man or the other as they would repeatedly come to a complete stop mid-step, turning their full attention away from the walkway and toward their iPhones.
It was frustrating to say the least.
With that said, the sequence of events very much reminded me of a post by Kara at Once There was a Tree- a well written excerpt that I found worthy of a read.

On a brighter note, I have also learned through this trip that I am extremely awesome at catching cabs.
I'm such the city girl at times! D.C., in turn, is also an extremely gorgeous city. If you have never been, please do not let it's corporate exterior scare you away! It's filled with museums and history and art and architecture- simply stunning.

Today my schedule is the opposite to that of my prior week- full of catching rays with my best friend and cleaning. Then, I am packing AGAIN for my holiday weekend in Missouri with my boyfriend's family!
I leave tonight!
The place that I will be staying at is out in the middle of...well, nowhere. Thus, I will update again on Monday upon my return!
Have a safe holiday!!

6 comments:

  1. ha ha ha i love your story about those 3 men.. i can picture it perfectly! and thanks for the shout out! have an awesome weekend -- enjoy the sunshine!! xo

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  2. the business men thing did sound intense. my goodness.
    i'd like to visit that city someday...
    but i'm not so good at catching cabs, i don't think. so i might stay here.

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  3. Haha Suzy! Anyone can get the hang of it! It is super easy! I encourage you to try haha =)

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  4. What part of Missouri are you going to be in? We are in St. Louis and we absolutely love it here. Have a blast with you boyfriend!! I want to go to Washington D.C. way bad! It just sounds like such an adventure! =D

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  5. Hey girl! I think they live about an hour out of St. Louis. I'm not sure if we're going to be there at all, but I sure hope that do make it there. I've only been there twice, but it really is a neat city =)

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  6. such a fun post! you have a creative writing style and i can't wait to read more - best wishes on your vacation! :)

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