Suzy and I arrived at 8am just as the gates were opening to park in the parking lot by the venue so we could have our chairs to sit in. However, within an hour of waiting in an orderly line, they decided we all needed to "move up". The nice orderly line turned into complete chaos and mob mentality. People were who were in the very back just walked right up to the front. People were angry. We were squished and cold and cranky. It was crazy. And yes, I am PMSing and live with a very short fuse these days. It took everything I had not to lose it.
However, we were still pretty close to the front of the line and gave us a great shot of the United States Secret Service Uniform Police Department at work. A Uhaul backed in, and ONLY the USSS Police were unloading its contents. It was the super special, government approved, metal detectors we had to walk through. They were a bunch of no-nonsense type people. They were very interesting to watch. I love security stuff. Watching the way that it all worked, made me miss my days in security and my days playing body guard!
I also loved watching the plain clothes secret service. We decided (while trying to figure out how these secret service guys get to all of the places the President goes to) are the presidential equivalent to circus carnies. *laugh* Though the guy below always looked so serious and not so fun.
The whole thing just boggled my mind. Where did they get all the plain black secret service vehicles that they all traveled in? The Secret Service has been at the University for 4 days getting things secure. The President is going to be in Kasnas tomorrow, and I'm certain there is a crew there doing the same thing. How they do they all get around? How many of them are there? How do the cars get back and forth? It all just boggles my mind and I'm so curious about it all.
Finally able to get in, we ran to the front of the rail. We were so excited. The empty space in front of us was for the wheel chairs. Yay! No one standing in front of us. Now if we could just get the people behind us to literally get off of our backs! Seriously. I stood a foot away from the rail bracing myself on the rail..just to make sure I didn't get squished. Tracy was standing behind Suzy with his arms around her bracing himself on the rail..just to protect Suzy. It's a good thing. Cause the lady behind him was literally on his back..pushing and shoving. The lady next to me had to tell the women behind us to back the heck off cause they were shoving us up against the rail. I just stuck my tush out and moved around and danced to the music. I guess they didnt' want me grinding my tush into them...so they backed off. Then........"The White House Staff" said that there was too much empty space and they were going to grab people from the back and bring them to stand in front of us. Umm.. hellooo... we have been standing in line since the crack of dawn..these people were JUST GETTING HERE! Them were fighting words. We had a few words with the volunteer staff, and they were very nice about protecting the space in front of us... and then they grabbed the little kids and put them up there to "fill space" and make sure kids had good spots to see over the wheel chairs.
Finally, President Obama arrived. It was really cool to see him in person. A dream come true. Though I was a bit disappointed at his attachment to the teleprompters. At the same time, I realize that he just did his State of the Union and was now in Boise giving a speech riddled with Football analogies, talking about how the only thing "blue" in Idaho was the turf at BSU, and mentioning the specifics in the science being done at BSU. I am not a complete idiot. Someone else had to do that research and write that speech for him. But uggg.. I just wish he could speak from the heart instead of the teleprompters. However, I did hear him say "More better" in his speech. I about died! Ugh! He was charming. He was inspirational. He was just about everything I had hoped for.
I am very grateful for the opportunity. As bitchy as I have been about all of this, it was a great day and I got to do something most people never get to do.... see a sitting President up close and personal. I really wish Omi could have been there. He spoke about encouraging our young women to be strong leaders in the STEM field..and that is exactly where Omi is going. It just made this more concrete. Omi will be encouraged over and over and over again to go into that field and BSU has an amazing program just for that.
I wish Nick could have been there. He would have loved what President Obama had to say about education and science! He would have loved all of it! I'm glad we got Suzy there.
Now... off to Mishi's house to hang out in the hot tub and try to warm up this body and relax this aching body from all of that cold and standing!
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