DNC #1

I just got back to the motel from a day at the Democratic National Convention.  At first, I thought I was going to be late for my volunteer shift.  Got a late start, had some errands to do and, of course, got lost.  But it turned out to be a matter of hurry up and wait.  I found the place to pick up my uniform and badge, and they directed me “walk down that street”.  So, I walked about five or six blocks until I found some people who were dressed like me.  I asked where I should be.  They pointed to another group across the street who were dressed like me.  They shrugged and just said they were told to wait here.  Then it rained.  A great cloudburst, with everyone huddled together.  One woman, under an umbrella, was on her cell phone, obviously upset. 

“You said there would be someone here an hour ago.  There are a lot of people here, soaking in the rain.  They spent their time and money to be here, and I wouldn’t blame them if they just walked away.”

Right then, that sounded like a good idea.  But I stuck it out.  I'd come too far to just stop now. Someone came up and said we would go to the convention center.  The umbrella lady said, “We’ve already done that 5 times.”

But I would rather walk than stand, so I followed the crowd the six blocks to the convention center.  Now, the shift I had been assigned was at the Time Warner Cable Arena, so I wondered if I had made the right choice.  But I trotted along, dodging the crowd and trying to keep up.  At the entrance to the convention center, they were checking for badges, so I was delayed and lost the person i had been following.  I wandered into the convention center and asked the first person I saw, who knew nothing.  The second person waved in the general direction of the innards of the building.  So, I went on and on and finally found a sign up table of people who were dressed like me.  They couldn’t find my name on their sheet, so they had me sign a paper and told me to wait over there.  I waited and a few more people dressed like me showed up.  At last someone who couldn’t have been more than twelve showed up with a clipboard.  She gave a run down of a bunch of things I can’t remember, because it had nothing to do with what I did. 

I showed her my assignment sheet that was emailed to me, and she said that everything had changed.  I ended up being a human signpost.  Delegates, media and VIPs would come down the walkway to go to the shuttle for the Time Warner Arena, where the speeches would be.  I stood where there was a ramp heading to the left.  I was instructed that wheelchairs, the media and VIPs could use the ramp, but the masses had to go straight ahead, then go to the right.  Yes, she actually used the term “masses”.  Even though there was security ahead and a sign with an arrow pointing to the right that said “To Event”, I still had to tell people to go straight, then turn right.  That did not sit well with me at a democratic function, and for a while, I told people to “hang a right”.  Then I felt that it was too violent a comment and stopped.

There was a sign I held for a while that said “Ask Me”.  After one guy paused, looked at the sign, looked at me and said, “Will you?” I decided not to hold that sign anymore.

It was interesting to watch the variety of people that passed by.  There were all credentialed people who had already passed one checkpoint and had to pass through a security screen later on.  There were people dressed in suits, saris, shorts, skirts, short skirts and short-short skirts.  High heels, low heels, sandals, turbans, bow ties and hats that lit up.  Long hair, short hair, no hair and blonde dreadlocks. It is truly a big tent.

There was also a large police presence under that tent.  I saw patches from Durham, Fayetteville, Prince William County and Chicago.  One officer stopped and asked me where he could get a foot massage.  I couldn’t help him with that one.  But I could commiserate.  Four hours of standing.  An hour past when they said we would be relieved.  I was for just blocking the ramp so that people would have to go straight.  But no.  The woman who I had been “working” with told me to wait while she went to ask the people at the sign-up table where our relief was.  She came back 15 minutes later and said they were coming.  Half an hour after that, I told my fellow sign post to go home, since she had a long drive.  Earlier, I had remarked to the umbrella lady that the Republicans seemed so much more organized than the Democrats.  She told me that the Republicans hired professional organizers.  The organizers here were all volunteers.

When my relief did show up, I was tempted to just leave and drive back to the motel.  I had heard there was a DNC watch on a projection screen in a big conference hall, but I felt too burned out at that point to go.  I would have left if it hadn’t been for Ananda.

Ananda is my traveling companion for a while.  More on that later.  She amused herself around the convention center while I was playing sign post, and said she would meet me at the DNC watch.  So, I went in and found her and began watching and listening to the speeches.  I became more and more energized. More on that later, too, but all I want to say right now is to watch Julian Castro, current mayor of San Antonio.