Can you find me in this historic photo from January 20, 2001?
Originally published at Scott Edelman. Please leave any comments there.
One day shy of 16 years ago, I was on the streets of Washington, D.C., protesting at the inauguration of George W. Bush. I was never able to find photographic evidence of that, because in those pre-iPhone days, most of the pictures taken were crowd shots by journalists. And though I frequently searched online in the month following the inauguration, peering at hundreds of pictures for my face or even my sign, I found nothing.
This afternoon however …
On a lark spurred by current events, I typed the search string “george bush inauguration protests” into Google. I assumed I’d look through a couple of pages of results, realize how ridiculous it was to expect I’d find me among the thousands of other protesters, and go back to what I’d been doing minutes before.
What I’d never have predicted is that on the first page of results, without even having to scroll, I’d spot a familiar sign, recognizable even in a tiny preview image.
And to my further surprise, when I clicked-there I was!
Do you see me?
A warning, though-if you’ve only come to know me within the past 10 years, and have no memory of the me of 100+ pounds ago, locating me probably won’t be an easy task. (If you’d like to discover whether your “Where’s Waldo” skills are still sharp, study the next image careful before scrolling down to the final image on this page, as I’ve overlaid a red arrow there pointing directly at me.)
Shall I give you a hint?
I’m wearing a promotional cap with Stephen King’s face on front. Four of his faces, in fact.
Did you find it?
Yes?
No?
Give up?
If so, then let the red arrow show you the me of 2001.
I no longer own that sign-I’d tossed it on the way home from the protest. But it occurs to me … I do still own the stencils with which I spray-painted it. I’d decided to hang on to them just in case another, similar sign was someday needed.
Hmmmm … I wonder when that will be?