On the morning of January 8th, I was visiting my girlfriend in Tucson. I woke up to the sounds of sirens. Under a mile away, an insane individual had fired bullets towards Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Christina Taylor Green, John McCarthy, Gabe Zimmerman, Phyllis Schneck, Dorwann Stoddard, and Dorothy Morris all became collateral damage to the shooter. The following hours, news stations would continually update the nation about Gabrielle Giffords condition. The following days, every news station - so it seemed - tried to place the shooter in the opposing party. "Look at his Myspace, he is so obviously influenced by Liberal ideologies!" or "He was inspired by that Conservative map with the cross hairs!" While in Tucson, the people were fed up with this talk and wanted it behind them.
The group walked out from the cafeteria, "Holy sh... There's so many people!" Today President Obama is addressing the nation in Tucson, to help the community cope. Local news stations reported the stadium wouldn't fill up, that the empty seats should be noticeable on television. They were apparently thinking of the other President that's giving a speech in Tucson. The streets were absolutely swarming with people wandering around in a globular cluster claiming to be a line. "Let's just find some sort of an end and see what happens" The group found the end, about a half mile away. Shuffling towards the back of the line, conversations are picked up by those waiting. Most people are talking about what they expect of the speech, or the current political climate in the country. Though, an unhealthy amount of people aren't able to say who Joe Biden is (Fact). Stopping just short of a shady tree, yes somehow the weather is hot in January, the group takes their seat and begins to wait among the crowd.
"They've been saying this speech is suppose to mark his re-election campaign." "I don't really see it that way, I mean, would this really be an appropriate time for sound bites?" "What I want to know is, why are there so many people walking to the front of the line?!" She had a point. Among the crowd, a dramatic shift was seen in direction. Most people are skipping the line and going straight to the entrance. After a brief discussion about ethics, and a long period of laughter, the group sharpens their elbows and goes to deal with the crowd. "Why didn't the city try and actually set up the event?" The voice could barely be heard over the crowd, "Because it's Tucson, Sara, because it's Tucson!" "Oh yeah..."
The entrance is a complete disaster. A gate is set up in front, where two giant lines going opposite directions converge at this one point, resulting in a massive blob of people. Every tiny movement forward makes the crowd more compact. There's no where to go. A sense of uncertainty came over the shorter part of the group, and even the bigger ones. The mass inched little by little, then a large gap opened up in the front. The entire crowd pushed and shoved to get ahead, creating a small stampede that wound up being the worlds largest moshpit. If anyone were to trip, they would be in a world of hurt. Now, everyone is looking worried. They can't stop the ten thousand people behind them. Why aren't they opening the gates? Twenty minutes of invading private spaces later, the gates finally open. It's like popping a balloon, all of the pressure is expelled and people walk freely to the security checkpoints.
Exhausted from the hours of sun bathing, the group makes one last journey to the seats. Everyone has a half discussion about seeing the President, trying to re-orientate themselves, though in the end, fatigue wins out. The group plops down and naps for the next half hour, still waiting for the speech.
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