All quiet here
So I went to work on Monday and knew that Freddie Gray's funeral was going to be a big deal at home, but it hadn't occurred to me (naively) that there would be unrest following it. I was in an all day meeting; when we stopped for breaks, I was busy checking on work things and didn't stop to check headlines. After 5pm, I checked the front page of the Post as I took care of things and planned my work day for Tuesday, thinking I'd head over to Game 7 (NYI @ WAS). The news was a shock. I moved over to a local TV station, which was livestreaming the looting of businesses a couple miles from my home.
After a series of near hysterical texts and phone calls (DON'T GO HOME! STAY IN DC!) from family, along with well-intentioned calls and emails from friends in New York, Boston, Chicago, and various Maryland suburbs, I watched the game. [I love my friends, who uniformly told me that I could stay with them for however long if I didn't fee like home was safe. Family too.] Wow, that was a beautiful goal by Kuznetsov! And then I took the last train home. Instead of getting off at my usual stop and walking home, which I thought might not be safe, I got off at an earlier stop and took a cab home. The driver, who lives downtown, told me he'd been in my neighborhood earlier and it was quiet. He dropped me in front of my building and waited until I was inside.
My neighborhood was relatively lucky. A 7-11 was looted, along with an Italian deli and a French cafe. The 7-11 looked like it had taped the windows and was otherwise okay for business. The other two were both closed yesterday; I hope they will be able to reopen.
I teleworked on Tuesday and today was my regular telework day. Yesterday my neighborhood really quiet; I went down to Starbucks at lunchtime, and sandwich shops and Chipotle that normally do very robust business were relatively slow. Today after work, I walked to the library to pick up books on hold with the plan of stopping by the locally-owned grocery on the way back. (The grocery was closed; it has been closing at 6pm all week.) There were three helicopters that I counted circulating above my section of downtown. And there was a tactical police vehicle, along with two vans of uniformed officers. For the march that went to City Hall.
I'm going to work tomorrow, even though the office has okayed ad hoc telework through Thursday. I'm actually more worried about Friday, when the police are supposed to turn over the matter to the city's State Attorney, because I think whatever is done won't be as definitive or punitive as people hope.
After a series of near hysterical texts and phone calls (DON'T GO HOME! STAY IN DC!) from family, along with well-intentioned calls and emails from friends in New York, Boston, Chicago, and various Maryland suburbs, I watched the game. [I love my friends, who uniformly told me that I could stay with them for however long if I didn't fee like home was safe. Family too.] Wow, that was a beautiful goal by Kuznetsov! And then I took the last train home. Instead of getting off at my usual stop and walking home, which I thought might not be safe, I got off at an earlier stop and took a cab home. The driver, who lives downtown, told me he'd been in my neighborhood earlier and it was quiet. He dropped me in front of my building and waited until I was inside.
My neighborhood was relatively lucky. A 7-11 was looted, along with an Italian deli and a French cafe. The 7-11 looked like it had taped the windows and was otherwise okay for business. The other two were both closed yesterday; I hope they will be able to reopen.
I teleworked on Tuesday and today was my regular telework day. Yesterday my neighborhood really quiet; I went down to Starbucks at lunchtime, and sandwich shops and Chipotle that normally do very robust business were relatively slow. Today after work, I walked to the library to pick up books on hold with the plan of stopping by the locally-owned grocery on the way back. (The grocery was closed; it has been closing at 6pm all week.) There were three helicopters that I counted circulating above my section of downtown. And there was a tactical police vehicle, along with two vans of uniformed officers. For the march that went to City Hall.
I'm going to work tomorrow, even though the office has okayed ad hoc telework through Thursday. I'm actually more worried about Friday, when the police are supposed to turn over the matter to the city's State Attorney, because I think whatever is done won't be as definitive or punitive as people hope.