The Police Chase on H Street
I returned to Washington today, rested, reflective, and ready for what comes next in my fellowship. But, logistics dominated my schedule and I was adjusting to being back in my apartment, unpacking, and the like. Just as I love to get to know neighborhoods by running through them, I love to get to know Washington by walking as many places as possible. So, I was off to the grocery store, which is less than a mile from my apartment. As I approached the corner of 5th Street NE and H Street NE, I heard a cacophony of sirens coming from the east. I looked in that direction and witnessed a helmetless man, driving a four-wheeled ATV, at 40-50 mph, who was being chased by four or five police cars, sirens blaring. I blinked. I stared. I laughed.
Of course, driving a four-wheeler in downtown Washington is really no laughing matter. It's a safety concern and apparently the reckless use of ATVs and dirt bikes inside the city and neighboring Maryland and Virginia has become a serious safety problem with drivers speeding and popping wheelies on the city streets and highways; you can read more about it here.
Beyond the obvious safety concern, the scene somehow seemed a mirror image of the times. Just start with the December holidays... We've all been that man on the ATV, totally out of control, going from chocolate cake to cherry pie to truffles...all the while ignoring our inner police sirens and the ever tightening of our waistbands around our bulging middle. Me, too. Even with a 13 mile run the weekend before I left and a 12 mile run yesterday along the Merrimack into Newburyport, the jeans are just a little tighter than I would like. It feels so good to be on that ATV, totally out of control, leading the pack of screaming police cruisers, doesn't it? Oh, but the payback is miserable.
I don't pay much attention to popular culture. Friends tease me about living under a rock so much, that it has become a proper noun, The Rock. But, I'm not so oblivious that I haven't noticed the parade of popular and often very important figures who passed away in 2016: David Bowie, Edgar Mitchell, Antonin Scalia, Boutros-Boutros Ghali, John Glenn, Harper Lee, Nancy Reagan, Patty Duke, Muhammad Ali, Elie Wiesel, Gene Wilder, Phyllis Schlafly, Shimon Peres, Janet Reno, Leonard Cohen, Gwen Ifill, Florence Henderson, Fidel Castro, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, and of course, my own Murray Straus. A recent meme on Facebook suggested that David Bowie had established a superior alternate universe and one at a time was hand selecting people to join him. I'm sure that in this scenario, many people feel like they are the police, chasing down the driver on the ATV, trying to reel in the numbers of lost celebrities and leaders who have made a significant impact on our lives. The loss is quite astonishing, really, especially at a time when so much of the nation is already despairing about shootings in communities of color and about the recent presidential election.
Speaking of which... I want to be respectful of my position as a Congressional fellow and not say too much... But, I certainly wouldn't be speaking out of turn to say that many people in the nation are scared, outraged, in denial, and in complete shock concerning our newly elected White House resident...that is, if he was actually going to reside in the White House. I wouldn't have been surprised to see Mr. Trump on that ATV today, plowing down H Street NE, with a line of cruisers after him. In fact, another woman who was standing at the intersection with me said that when she saw the police, at first she thought it was the presidential barricade, which is not so unusual to see in Washington. But, instead, it was a reckless man, out on a joy ride. Many commentators have witnessed similar joy rides by our incoming president, like his recent New Year's greeting. Most of the USA saw Mr. Trump joy-riding all over this nation and we assumed that he would be followed by some kind of enforcement - the media, the police, his own political party, or even better the "morality police," but he was not, and in a mere nineteen days, he will be our new president. Even before that happens, he will direct the Republican party to dismantled the Affordable Care Act, as noted in this recent NYT article. In this scenario, who are the police? Where will the enforcement come from...?
I think that I'll wrap up here before I say too much. I will advise my readers to pay attention to upcoming political events and actions. I'm not speaking out of turn, because the media is telling all of us what's ahead. Just channel those police officers today on H Street NE and hang on for a ride, because it's coming.
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| I witnessed the crazed driver where the red star is located. |
Beyond the obvious safety concern, the scene somehow seemed a mirror image of the times. Just start with the December holidays... We've all been that man on the ATV, totally out of control, going from chocolate cake to cherry pie to truffles...all the while ignoring our inner police sirens and the ever tightening of our waistbands around our bulging middle. Me, too. Even with a 13 mile run the weekend before I left and a 12 mile run yesterday along the Merrimack into Newburyport, the jeans are just a little tighter than I would like. It feels so good to be on that ATV, totally out of control, leading the pack of screaming police cruisers, doesn't it? Oh, but the payback is miserable.
I don't pay much attention to popular culture. Friends tease me about living under a rock so much, that it has become a proper noun, The Rock. But, I'm not so oblivious that I haven't noticed the parade of popular and often very important figures who passed away in 2016: David Bowie, Edgar Mitchell, Antonin Scalia, Boutros-Boutros Ghali, John Glenn, Harper Lee, Nancy Reagan, Patty Duke, Muhammad Ali, Elie Wiesel, Gene Wilder, Phyllis Schlafly, Shimon Peres, Janet Reno, Leonard Cohen, Gwen Ifill, Florence Henderson, Fidel Castro, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, and of course, my own Murray Straus. A recent meme on Facebook suggested that David Bowie had established a superior alternate universe and one at a time was hand selecting people to join him. I'm sure that in this scenario, many people feel like they are the police, chasing down the driver on the ATV, trying to reel in the numbers of lost celebrities and leaders who have made a significant impact on our lives. The loss is quite astonishing, really, especially at a time when so much of the nation is already despairing about shootings in communities of color and about the recent presidential election.
Speaking of which... I want to be respectful of my position as a Congressional fellow and not say too much... But, I certainly wouldn't be speaking out of turn to say that many people in the nation are scared, outraged, in denial, and in complete shock concerning our newly elected White House resident...that is, if he was actually going to reside in the White House. I wouldn't have been surprised to see Mr. Trump on that ATV today, plowing down H Street NE, with a line of cruisers after him. In fact, another woman who was standing at the intersection with me said that when she saw the police, at first she thought it was the presidential barricade, which is not so unusual to see in Washington. But, instead, it was a reckless man, out on a joy ride. Many commentators have witnessed similar joy rides by our incoming president, like his recent New Year's greeting. Most of the USA saw Mr. Trump joy-riding all over this nation and we assumed that he would be followed by some kind of enforcement - the media, the police, his own political party, or even better the "morality police," but he was not, and in a mere nineteen days, he will be our new president. Even before that happens, he will direct the Republican party to dismantled the Affordable Care Act, as noted in this recent NYT article. In this scenario, who are the police? Where will the enforcement come from...?
I think that I'll wrap up here before I say too much. I will advise my readers to pay attention to upcoming political events and actions. I'm not speaking out of turn, because the media is telling all of us what's ahead. Just channel those police officers today on H Street NE and hang on for a ride, because it's coming.
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