You never really know how dumb people can be until you lump them all in one of the most educational cities in the world. Seriously, I have never seen/heard so many dumb people in one place before. This past Saturday, my roommates and I went and played tourist around DC. First, we went to the National Archives, which is the big building that holds the Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights (among many other things…), but really, most tourists only go there to see those three things. Right after the release of National Treasure, I bet that place became tourist central with everyone trying to see the place where Nick Cage stole one of the most important documents from our country. Even now, they still sell the movie at the counter in the gift shop along and in the rotunda where those pieces of parchment are on display there is a soft hum of people discussing various aspects of the movie as though it were actually possible for someone to steal the Declaration; even with the s
ecurity guards that stand right next to each case and if anyone even comes close to touching the glass they are quick to make sure you stop (apparently I was leaning on the glass and I got a stern “Mam, can you please not touch the glass…”). Seriously, I bet these are the same people who take the Da Vinci Code as truth and not as fiction as it is clearly labeled on the shelf in the bookstore. Anyway, most of the movie discussion about making sure the flash is off so that the thermometer inside the glass case doesn’t get too hot and they have to remove the document and asking the security guards if it is indeed possible for someone to steal it came from little kids, so I’m going to try and write that one off to youth.
Then I went into the bathroom and there were a bunch of girls standing by the mirror taking pictures of each other. One girl started talking about how cute she was, and another agreed. Then a third complained that her eyeliner and mascara were running (as if her makeup was going to stay perfect in the hot DC sun and the 90-100 degrees it was yesterday, seriously people think before you leave the house). Anyway, one girl forgot where they were and another responded by saying they were in the N
ational ArCHives (pronouncing the CH in the word). Now, I understand messing with words because I do it all the time, but when I do it, you know I am kidding. This girl was not kidding (unless she is very good at keeping a straight face) and the other girls laughed and corrected her. They took some more pictures of each other and then someone came into the bathroom to tell them that the bus is leaving.
We then went to the Museum of Natural History, but honestly, this is one to spend more than a few hours in (which is all we had time for). It has exhibits on dinosaurs, gems, rocks, sea creatures, elephants (I think), butterflies (right now at least), western cultures (one we did not have time to go see), and even the Hope Diamond is there. On the elevator to see the Hope Diamond, this mother and her daughter were asking us to hold the elevator and this southern bitchy lady behind us said “No room in here,” but I held the door anyway; there was plenty of room. As the two get on, the lady continued by saying, “We are not going anywhere. If the fire department were here we would be getting in a lot of trouble,” or something like that. Needless to say, we made the one floor up to the gems floor and then had to stand behind her because she could not obviously read the large printed sign that says “Hope Diamond” above the entrance to that room. Anyway, the Hope Diamond is in this sort of tiny case in a room by itself and the platform it is on rotates so that you can stand on any of the four sides to get a glance at it. Even here, the intelligence level is low. A boy behind me, while looking at the diamond, said, “That can’t be a diamond, it’s not clear.” And then an older lady behind me said, “Ugh, that’s not the Hope Diamond,” as if the Smithsonian is going to lie to the thousands upon thousands of people who visit their museums daily. My roommate mimicked them as we walked away only making jokes about that being the necklace the old lady throws off the boat at the end of that movie.
Oh, wait, there is more! A family was sitting next to me on the main level of the Smithsonian talking about where they wanted to go next. It all started off with the mom yelling at this young boy because she did not believe he would have wanted to go to the Smithsonian if she had not forced him because she wants him to start learning things. The boy just sat there and took it, but then the father (who only had one leg and walked with those weird crutches) came over. This was how their conversation went (as well as I can remember it):
Mom: I think the boys are getting kind of tired.
Boy: Yeah, my legs hurt.
Dad: Well if your legs hurt, that means you don’t get enough exercise.
Boy: Well, I hurt my leg somehow before we came here.
Dad: Oh, you hurt your legs; here take these (hands crutches to boy). No seriously, you hurt your leg, take them.
Mom (to boy): Okay, well what do you want to see?
Boy: I don’t know. What’s at Arlington?
Dad: A bunch of graves that all look the same, some statues probably, nothing really to look at.
Boy: Well, what about the National Archives?
Mom: Yeah.
Dad: Didn’t they make a movie about that? Something about someone trying to steal, what, the Declaration of Constitutionality? (Wasn’t joking) Well did you see the movie?
Boy: Yeah
Dad: Well then why do you have to go there?
Hmm..I guess we now know why the younger generations are so dumb.
Monday, it was back to business clothes, 8 a.m. Metro rides, TWC programming, and my journalism class. Our guest speaker was Rosemary Reed from Double R productions. I don’t know much about movie production, but I hung on her every word because she was very, very blunt (she was much to the left and made fun of the righties which was very entertaining in itself).
The people in my program had the chance to see a taping at the Newseum with Newt Gingrich today, but because the offer came up yesterday, I didn’t think I would be able to go. The organization I am working for is preparing for their annual banquet dinner tomorrow and because everyone is going crazy, I did not want to ask off in case they needed me. I wish I could go to more of these outside events, but they always come up when I have my internship or when I’m in class. I did play tourist this past weekend, but I feel like I’m wasting my nights and part of my weekends. Hopefully, as the summer progresses, I will spend more time going out to see the city.
ecurity guards that stand right next to each case and if anyone even comes close to touching the glass they are quick to make sure you stop (apparently I was leaning on the glass and I got a stern “Mam, can you please not touch the glass…”). Seriously, I bet these are the same people who take the Da Vinci Code as truth and not as fiction as it is clearly labeled on the shelf in the bookstore. Anyway, most of the movie discussion about making sure the flash is off so that the thermometer inside the glass case doesn’t get too hot and they have to remove the document and asking the security guards if it is indeed possible for someone to steal it came from little kids, so I’m going to try and write that one off to youth.Then I went into the bathroom and there were a bunch of girls standing by the mirror taking pictures of each other. One girl started talking about how cute she was, and another agreed. Then a third complained that her eyeliner and mascara were running (as if her makeup was going to stay perfect in the hot DC sun and the 90-100 degrees it was yesterday, seriously people think before you leave the house). Anyway, one girl forgot where they were and another responded by saying they were in the N
ational ArCHives (pronouncing the CH in the word). Now, I understand messing with words because I do it all the time, but when I do it, you know I am kidding. This girl was not kidding (unless she is very good at keeping a straight face) and the other girls laughed and corrected her. They took some more pictures of each other and then someone came into the bathroom to tell them that the bus is leaving.We then went to the Museum of Natural History, but honestly, this is one to spend more than a few hours in (which is all we had time for). It has exhibits on dinosaurs, gems, rocks, sea creatures, elephants (I think), butterflies (right now at least), western cultures (one we did not have time to go see), and even the Hope Diamond is there. On the elevator to see the Hope Diamond, this mother and her daughter were asking us to hold the elevator and this southern bitchy lady behind us said “No room in here,” but I held the door anyway; there was plenty of room. As the two get on, the lady continued by saying, “We are not going anywhere. If the fire department were here we would be getting in a lot of trouble,” or something like that. Needless to say, we made the one floor up to the gems floor and then had to stand behind her because she could not obviously read the large printed sign that says “Hope Diamond” above the entrance to that room. Anyway, the Hope Diamond is in this sort of tiny case in a room by itself and the platform it is on rotates so that you can stand on any of the four sides to get a glance at it. Even here, the intelligence level is low. A boy behind me, while looking at the diamond, said, “That can’t be a diamond, it’s not clear.” And then an older lady behind me said, “Ugh, that’s not the Hope Diamond,” as if the Smithsonian is going to lie to the thousands upon thousands of people who visit their museums daily. My roommate mimicked them as we walked away only making jokes about that being the necklace the old lady throws off the boat at the end of that movie.
Oh, wait, there is more! A family was sitting next to me on the main level of the Smithsonian talking about where they wanted to go next. It all started off with the mom yelling at this young boy because she did not believe he would have wanted to go to the Smithsonian if she had not forced him because she wants him to start learning things. The boy just sat there and took it, but then the father (who only had one leg and walked with those weird crutches) came over. This was how their conversation went (as well as I can remember it):
Mom: I think the boys are getting kind of tired.
Boy: Yeah, my legs hurt.
Dad: Well if your legs hurt, that means you don’t get enough exercise.
Boy: Well, I hurt my leg somehow before we came here.
Dad: Oh, you hurt your legs; here take these (hands crutches to boy). No seriously, you hurt your leg, take them.
Mom (to boy): Okay, well what do you want to see?
Boy: I don’t know. What’s at Arlington?
Dad: A bunch of graves that all look the same, some statues probably, nothing really to look at.
Boy: Well, what about the National Archives?
Mom: Yeah.
Dad: Didn’t they make a movie about that? Something about someone trying to steal, what, the Declaration of Constitutionality? (Wasn’t joking) Well did you see the movie?
Boy: Yeah
Dad: Well then why do you have to go there?
Hmm..I guess we now know why the younger generations are so dumb.
Monday, it was back to business clothes, 8 a.m. Metro rides, TWC programming, and my journalism class. Our guest speaker was Rosemary Reed from Double R productions. I don’t know much about movie production, but I hung on her every word because she was very, very blunt (she was much to the left and made fun of the righties which was very entertaining in itself).
The people in my program had the chance to see a taping at the Newseum with Newt Gingrich today, but because the offer came up yesterday, I didn’t think I would be able to go. The organization I am working for is preparing for their annual banquet dinner tomorrow and because everyone is going crazy, I did not want to ask off in case they needed me. I wish I could go to more of these outside events, but they always come up when I have my internship or when I’m in class. I did play tourist this past weekend, but I feel like I’m wasting my nights and part of my weekends. Hopefully, as the summer progresses, I will spend more time going out to see the city.
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