Obamarama

Today President Obama visited my place of work.

Did I say "visited" and "place of work"?

I meant "descended upon" and "a major portion of my fair town."

Truthfully, it was a bit exciting. I'm not an East Coast, big city girl. I'm not rich, prominent in any political organizations or think tanks, and I've never worked for a campaign. This was my first experience being anywhere near a sitting president. It was sort of strange and fun to hear his voice wafting over campus as I left work. It was amusing to see security personnel crawling over the rooftops of buildings in which on any other day, students learn about history, foreign language, agricultural sciences, etc.

But mostly, I was annoyed, and it had nothing to do with political convictions.

A visit from a presidential candidate brought my university grinding to a near halt. Why? Here are some highlights. Obama spoke in the MIDDLE of campus. The university cancelled classes in FIVE big buildings for a day to comply with security demands. They denied faculty and staff access to their offices for the same reason. They blocked off a major highway and roads in and out of campus and turned my tiny little 10 minute commute into a harrowing thirty minute ordeal. (I was amused by the giant construction dumpster that blocked a wide and heavily-traversed sidewalk near the building where I work. National security achieved through waste management! Huzzah!) I think that the majority of  the City of FoCo's and all of Baa Ram U's security resources were diverted to cover said visit. I have never seen so many police vehicles in one tiny area. I got a bunch of emails from uni administrators beginning last week explaining how we would just have to make the best of all of the craziness and such. Both of my work places scheduled major events for the same day months ago. One had to be rescheduled. One had to be carried out in spite of the mess. All university higher-ups scheduled to attend and speak at these events bailed for a chance to shake hands with Washington higher-ups. And best of all, no one had any real idea when the man himself was going to show. He had to visit Virginia and Iowa first today. So there were crowds and inconveniences and issues for the better portion of the last two days (if I don't count event rescheduling headaches for the last week). FOR THE LOVE!

A side note: I saw a lot of families with small children streaming into the rally area. Perhaps someone out there can explain to me why someone would voluntarily take his/her 2-6-year-old(s) to a crowded, hot, afternoon/evening event to wait around for an indefinite amount of time smack dab in the midst of nap and dinner time during which said child(ren) would need to be occupied? And don't say childcare. There were a LOT of kids, and FoCo people are generally well-off with lots of childcare options.

Despite all of this, I thought about getting myself a ticket to the event. The historian (and campaign/election analysis junkie) in me really wanted to go. I admit to being curious. But then I thought about how I didn't want to be stuck in the afternoon sun pressed up against a bunch of other hot sweaty people for an indefinite period of time waiting for a campaign stump speech. And I also thought about how if I did my job I'd get paid, and if I went to the rally, I would not. I voted for no people and more money.

I consoled myself the loss of a personal political first with the thought that I can give myself future opportunities to see presidents and presidential candidates by strategically remaining a resident of a university town/city in a swing state for the rest of my life. Yep, that will certainly guarantee me another shot.

But for now, my interest in being anywhere near another such circus is slim to none, no matter who shows up. And, while I am ALL about balance, please God, don't give the Romney campaign the same idea!