Spotted: A Night at the Museum

I was with a few interns at an after-hours event at one of the big museums downtown. After the event had ended, everyone was exiting the building through the main doors. One intern who happened to work at that particular museum stated “let’s go out the staff entrance” so the group of us followed him through some of the back hallways for a few minutes until arriving at the door. It was locked. We couldn’t get out that way after hours.

“Let’s try the other door” he said. We then followed him for another minute until we came to a large loading dock where there was another exit door. It was also locked. We turned around deciding to stop listening to this guy and go out the same way as everyone else. Just as we headed back, the door leading out of the loading dock, back into the museum clicked closed, locking itself. Now we were stuck, we couldn’t go forward, nor could we go back the way we came. We were locked in the basement of the museum.

We tried to call security to come let us out but no one knew the right number. We got in touch with the DC police department and they just thought it was hilarious and said there was nothing they could do. Finally after about 20 minutes of wondering how long it was going to take before security found us, someone realized he could lift up the rolling garage-type door just enough to slip under it and open the door leading back into the main hall of the museum.

This experience could have been avoided had I been smart and not followed this intern who thought he knew where he was going.Lesson learned.

Heard: PDD?

Five or six interns got on the Metro at Metro Center close to 11 pm. One, a tanned bottle blonde with a push-up bra and a green low-cut dress was telling the others about an RA who threatened to write her up for suspected drinking. She whined to the others that she was 22, not some child. Then another girl said that they needed to get to work early today before the "PDD thing" so they could leave early. An awkward young man (one of the two guys in the group) asked the others: "What does that stand for anyway? Puking Dumb Disaster?" They all laughed. Luckily, they only were on the train a few minutes, before departing at Foggy Bottom.

Spotted: Flailing Arms

On a busy Thursday before the big energy bill vote, my interns were taking constituent calls.

Midday, a Democratic Leader calls our office to speak with Representative… My know-it-all intern who is older than most of our staff happened to field this call . She told him ‘I’m sorry I can’t transfer anyone to the Congressman. Office policy. Can I take a message?’ He did not leave a message.

Later in the evening at a delegation dinner at a hill establishment, she is standing out side bragging about how she didn’t know who this Democratic Leader guy was. In her animated recap of the call she is flailing her arms around and elbows a Congressman who had been the White House Luau. She then turns and glares at him for running into her spastic arms.

Blowing off a Democratic Leader was enough to make her a star, but physically assaulting a Congressman makes her day soar to legendary intern status.