Welcome to Washington! Grab a name tag! Make a friend!" The call resonates in front of the Third Street tunnel as thousands of people trudged through the 7 a.m. blustering cold towards the Mall. A man with a wide grin sells Obama bobbleheads on the street corner while the woman next to him adorns her excited children in woolen cloaks before holding them close to her and beginning her journey toward the Capitol steps.
Never has there been such tangible excitement in Washington. Never have I seen this kind of hope in Washington. For a city that cultivates the most politically influential discourse, think tanks and idea machines, its occasional indifference to its home and its unsolvable issues are an appropriate motif for the underlying hypocrisy of this city.
Some of the people trudging along this tunnel are natives to a city that does not always shelter its own weak and weary, while still building its idealistic bridges and castles to shoulder the burdens of and save the downtrodden across the nation and around the world.
Despite being riddled with the same problems and much of the same hypocrisy, Washington somehow thinks that something magical will happen.
According to a 2006-2007 Department of Education report, three out of four D.C. public schools fail to meet Adequate Yearly Progress standards set by the No Child Left Behind Act. D.C. is also on its seventh superintendent in the past decade.
Last week's Inauguration showcased a multitude of people who have incredible faith that Washington will finally be the shining provider with President Barack Obama as the already lit kerosene lamp.
This hope marks a broader shift in the Washingtonian attitude. D.C. is ready for Obama. They hailed him from their streets, waving flags and clutching themselves against the cold with the warmth of hope in their eyes.
Bush, in front of the millions that crowded onto the Washington mall, faced a series of boos and chants of "Na, Na, Na, Na, Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye."
But how is Obama going to deliver to these people, his oft neglected neighbors who set so much in store in his promise for change?
It has been eight long years. D.C. cries out desperately for change. The tangible excitement did not resemble the normal anticipation of a new President.
The people of D.C. honestly think that Obama and his Cabinet will be able to solve the issues of D.C. so that the overlooked and forgotten walls of the homes and businesses of Washington may be showcased in the same shining, shimmering white as the Capitol, White House and Supreme Court buildings.
People leave the Inauguration and walk back to Metro stops and homes behind the Capitol, on the side that doesn't house the Mall, billion-dollar entities like the Smithsonian Museums and the pristine and gigantic buildings that the world knows as Washington.
Yet, in the aftermath of the Inauguration, while we all trudge back with wind-burnt faces, D.C. still contains failing schools, crime-ridden streets uninhabited by its world-renowned politicians, resulting in a disconnect between politicians and the people.
The election of our 44th President has exposed the underbelly of the Washingtonians. The Inauguration captivated the very moment of collective na'veté that almost all of Washington shared. There was that unifying moment in which the poverty-stricken liberals and the bleeding-heart sympathizers looked up at Obama with hope that tides would turn.
There are many entrances and exits into and away from Washington. Some of them are lined by embassies or majestic federal government buildings. Senators and policymakers, even the Vice President, all live along these roads. But there are others, the ones unfrequented by tourists and Congresspeople, that do not appear in pictures, movies or textbooks. There are those other streets that cause local Washingtonians to throw up their hands and wonder when the tides will turn.
These are the locals who shoulder the burden of having trash on their steps or trampled gardens after the millions of Americans have had their share of the nation's capitol.
Only a few blocks away from this scene, you have the best and brightest brainstorming how to improve the education in Iraq or some other country.
The sun always sets over two Washingtons, even though for one night, the locals dare to believe that someday there will only be one.
