meeting the new mayor (for the third time)

Last night I waited on line for 2 hours and 45 minutes to spend 5 seconds talking to the new mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter. The line, which was not single file, wrapped completely around City Hall, which happens to be the largest municipal building in the country. My friend had come over to babysit baby Doodle during the interim when Mr. Doodlebug was coming home from center city and I was leaving for it. When I got there I made sure the line was to get into the "reception" with the mayor. Then I asked how long the wait was: an hour and a half. After staking my claim at the end of the tremendous line I debated whether to just go home and bag it. But I had already made my way there via regional rail and I was willing to put a little time in on line. What I was witnessing was the political equivalent to waiting to audition for American Idol or for free tickets to the Super Bowl.

I called Mr. D to bitch about the standing and waiting I was about to endure. When I got off the phone the woman in front of me claimed that the wait would be worth it. Then the guy behind the person behind me struck up a conversation with me and the woman behind me. He seemed pretty cool and we chatted while the line moved from the south side of the building to the west side. Some high school marching bands and some street musicians played music to keep us entertained. The wife of the nice guy behind me joined our little group, as did the woman in front of me (the one who said the wait would be worth it). I liked the guys wife a lot. She had one of these warm, optimistic, inclusive personalities. She works for a non-profit that helps kids in Philly and her husband works at La Salle University. We learned a lot about each other during our nearly three-hour wait. The longer I stood there the more invested I became in seeing it through. My line friends made the entire ordeal tolerable, and dare I say enjoyable.

The outpouring of support for a man who has already won his election was unbelievable. I have never waited in a line that long for anything, but I waited last night. It was worth it. It was worth it to see the enthusiasm and hope people have for our new mayor. It was encouraging. It was worth it to meet the four people that formed our "line friends" group. It was worth it to shake the mayor's hand and tell him, extremely briefly, that I would love to work for him in the education realm. He actually told me to call him this morning at City Hall to discuss it further. I assumed he didn't mean talk directly with him today, but I did call and leave a message for his assistant who has yet to call me back. Mr. Doodlebug thinks they're still inundated with things to do and I should give her 48 hours before I call again.

I arrived at City Hall at 5:45 and shook the mayor's hand at 8:30 p.m. After exchanging numbers with the couple behind me I ran to catch the 8:41 train back to my neighborhood. Then I hiked up the enormous hill, and the 96 stairs to our house. I arrived home at 9:30 starving, thirsty and tired. I'm really glad I went. I'm glad I did something out of my routine and little crazy.