The MARCH adventure began as soon as Stew and Eric picked me up to take me to the airport. Turns out there was a man dangling from the Crescent City Connection who had just killed his girlfriend and a policeman, and was about to jump. Even so, there was very little traffic and we made it in plenty of time. I was so excited, I looked for DC instead of Dallas on the Departure Sign.
Knowing I was going to have lots of time, I stopped to get a book for the trip. The checker and I spoke about the MARCH. I showed him the hoodie I'd put together and then, opened my bag of tricks and gave him one of the many "safety" pins I'd made to hand out to people.
We joked...a symbol, pretty, and they're practical too! With The Swans of Fifth Avenue in hand, I was on my way.
Leave it to me to find a new wrinkle to TSAs Quick Check! They had a place for us. All was well till I got to the conveyer belt and there wasn't a tray to be found. There I stood with everything I was taking in the pockets of my overalls. The TSA agent told me that they don't have any trays for quick check because you're supposed to just put your bag on the belt. I explained and he decided that maybe this "bag-less woman" needed a tray after all. He was cute. He told me that I was: "A Special Case!" (I'm sure that many of you who know me, might agree.) I giggled and kept going.
The Dallas to DC flight was full of people heading to the MARCH. I was surrounded by a West Coast contingent...Oregon and Washington State. The young woman sitting next to me was from Santa Fe. We struck up a nice conversation...a University student in gender studies in the Northeast, she was meeting a friend who lived in DC and going together to the MARCH. In no time, she mentioned she was thinking about studying social work in graduate school and we were off and running, with promises to stay in touch.
Reagan National was pretty deserted when I arrived at midnight. I had my book and some sandwich left from New Orleans so I settled in on what looked to be the most comfortable chairs near the restrooms. Sleeping was difficult, but I managed a few winks. By the time the staff started arriving, I was ready to get moving myself. A supervisor was talking to her staff who had been instructed to come in very early (this was 3am) but weren't really sure why. We chatted about: safety; the huge police presence the day of the Inauguration like she had never seen before; and, that she wished that she could be marching too. My safety pins were under my hoodie and I just wasn't fast enough this time.
It was time for a coffee and getting myself together to head to the METRO. The checker at the coffee spot admired my hoodie. I explained what it stood for, and after I settled went back and gave him 2 pins.
During a bathroom break a Mom and her little girl were heading to Texas. We said our hellos and talked about the MARCH-ah, the smile of tiny children for simple things...a safety pin with a rose on it.
Scoping out the METRO, I met "Marvin" who made me smile when he was out there trying to see why his automatic door wasn't working. We chatted too. I told him about the hoodie. He mentioned how passionate all the women were that he'd been meeting, and I gave him a pin too. He was funny: "You know, they might tell me to take this off my uniform, but I'm going to go ahead and try to wear it today!" I went back to my coffee spot to wait until 6am to head into DC.
As I was getting ready to get on the METRO closer to 6, Marvin was waiting for me. He waved me over and took me to meet two of his other colleagues. We talked about the hoodie, the MARCH, and they wanted many safety pins...and, why not!
We talked a little about my concerns, my Mom, Moms in general. They sent me on my way feeling safer by the minute. What a METRO team!
The METRO was pretty empty at that time of the morning. There was a mother daughter team and a young college student in our car. When we arrived at the L'Enfant Plaza stop there was a gang from Canada getting their group shot taken. I headed over to the MARCH spot with the mother daughter team, feeling my Mom there too.
People are always surprised when they discover that I'm traveling alone. I'm surprised at how many people actually ask. It's just what I do. I've learned over the years that it works best for me. And besides, if I didn't I wouldn't have met all of these wonderful people and had these amazing experiences.
And, if you know me...the meeting and talking didn't stop here.
I hadn't even made it to the MARCH yet!
