A witness to history; glad I brought a notebook
WASHINGTON D.C. - Familiar D.C. landmarks bobbed within an ocean of faces that stretched as far as the eye could see.
It was the most amount of people in one area that either Photo Editor Matthew Stephens or I had ever seen.
Countless tributaries of infinitely long processions of people flowed from every direction, all trying to shove their way into the National Mall.
Even if it were just for a moment, on a giant TV screen miles from the Capitol building, they came to see Barack Obama.
The chaos was eerily reminiscent of an "end of the world" horror film.
The masses were bellowed at by police officers wearing riot face shields and national guard troops toting M-16s. There was mass confusion; no one knowing exactly how the round-about-route was going to lead them to their destination.
It took hours to travel just a mile, a walk from the Metro that on any normal day would take an estimated 10 minutes. They bundled up, fought the cold, some for as long as eight hours after arriving at 4:30 in the morning, and still struggling to secure a place on the two-mile long lawn.
Families wore matching sweat suits, held hands, and cried out if they were separated for even a moment by the pushing crowds.
Father's carried their bundled infants in their arms, sometimes forced to hold the children high above their heads.
America's youth, the cell phone generation, came in packs and texted their experiences across the Internet.
It was all in the name of a history-making event.
But, the event itself reflected Obama's inaugural theme of harmony.
Complete strangers, people who would normally pass by unnoticed, chatted, joked and laughed with us online.
People were civil to one another. And they looked out for each other.
People waved their arms, crying for help when a man collapsed to the ground while having a heart attack. The crowd gave him space and offered him water before the help arrived.
People yelled out in protest when the police got perhaps a little too aggressive with individuals in the crowd.
Since we've arrived, we've heard Obama's Inauguration referred at as the Woodstock of the millienial's generation, a revolution, on more than one occasion - a celebration of unity.
And it was.
studentlife@cm-life.com
