Well, that was something, all right!

[siercia]

Last night, lorac and her husband, prunesnprisms and her husband, and I went downtown to see Obama speak at a rally.

Doors were supposed to open at 8. We got there a little after 6 and the line was already long enough that we weren't sure we'd get in - we were a good three or four blocks from the entrance, I think . By the time the line started moving to let people in, it stretched further than we could see down Seaport Blvd, then curved around the block and back up past where we were standing on the other side. I don't think the line went over the bridge before looping back, but I'm not sure.

It was cold and we were out there for a long time. Everyone seemed in good spirits for standing around in the cold for hours. Whenthe line finally started moving, it went incredibly slowly, as they were (apparently) running the line through metal detectors and screening bags and the like. Whn we finally got in the doors, they had, it seemed, given that up - I think they realized that they would never get everyone in if they kept moving at the glacial pace - as it was, we didn't get in until nearly 9:30.

Once we got in, we could hardly see the stage - I had a great view of the back of some guys head, and we had to listen to pointless speeches (the mayor of FITCHBURG? Really?) before getting to the good stuff. We ended up having to leave before Obama's speech was quite over, so we could relieve Lorac's mom of babysitting duty.

It was *still* totally worth it.

Comments

[liddle-oldman.livejournal.com]

Perhaps you did not know that Fitchburg was The All-American City for 1968? An honor like that certainly deserves notice!

(Really? Fitchburg?)

[siercia]

Yeah.

She was a young enthusiastic Asian woman. Our best guess is that she's being groomed for "bigger things" and this is one of the ways that the party is getting her out and about.

[liddle-oldman.livejournal.com]

Oh, right, I was just reading about her! She's hoping to leverage a lot of mill space and the fact that the river looks a little like water again into getting some life back into the city.

Good luck to her! When I lived in NH, Fitchburg was the closest city, so I still sort of wish it well.

[siercia]

Hey, if she can turn Fitchburg into a happily thriving little city, more power to her!

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

It was at least ten by the time we got in--maybe 10:15.

[siercia]

Was it? I'm blocking that part out, clearly.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Yah, Globe article confirmed this.

[elsterm.livejournal.com]

Yikes, that's a long time to wait. He's so worth it though, at least I thought he was. We used the baby to get in to the VIP line because of the weather (I know, so wrong) so we were toward the front when we saw him in Salem, NH. Still, we had to wait for hours, and some people did have to leave before he spoke. I found him so inspirational though, such a refreshing change from what we've seen.

[siercia]

It was a long time to wait. But by the time we'd reached the breaking point of SO COLD and SO LONG, we could see the door, and to lame out THEn would have been STUPID, so we stuck it out.

Was totally wishing I had thought to go see him in NH where I would have thought the lines would have been less, but apparently, that would've been a fool's wish.

At least I had good company for the wait.