The reality is that people work in Manhattan and live elsewhere. Even Terry lived in Newark and took the express in. The reality is that Manhattan, to me, is still more of an idea and in that non-physical, intangible form I can still shape it into the New York of hopes and dreams.
In D.C. I feel like a transplant; I feel as though everyone in the city is a transplant, no one actually lives here. Its too clean. Everyone comes into the city for show, like the senators to the senate for the most important votes. I wonder what I expected. Perhaps more giant, more imposing monuments. I wanted to be confronted by history and a sense of shameless nationalism. When I first entered D.C. the car came over the crest of a hill and idyllically the capitol building sat on the horizon with the Washington Memorial behind it jutting into the sky. I believe its important that no buildings dwarf those monuments and in this way I'm semi-alright with the surrounding urban sprawl. I've yet to be beyond Kat's dorm, Trader Joes, and Starbucks. Tomorrow I'll have pictures, tomorrow I'll be a tourist in our nation's capitol.
Interesting tidbit about D.C.: They have a unique breed of slugs. "Slugs" are people one can pick up at designated areas to carpool with. Complete strangers, often going to work, meet at these locations and someone gets a free ride. It's beneficial to everyone as the driver can drive in the HOV lane with the right number of passengers, and everybody gets where they need to be faster. It's even more convenient if all passengers have the same destination, for instance, the Pentagon; and I believe there are specific pick-up points for the Pentagon. What's so bizarre about it is that it's such a well operating system and there's never been an incident! I don't think it would work anywhere else though.
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