Locked Down in D.C.

This was supposed to be a regular “Week Whatever of Quarantine” post, but as I wrote it, the mood of it quickly shifted into something else. I felt weird following up the rest of this post with “weird purchases” and what I’ve been reading. So I decided to just stop and let the piece stay as it was: a discussion of being locked down in D.C.. I’ll be back later this afternoon with a regular “Week Whatever of Quarantine” post.

Locked Down in D.C.

I felt like this was the most appropriate week for a “Week Whatever of Quarantine” post. Why? Well, not only are we in quarantine right now, but we’re also in lockdown. My boyfriend and I live in DC, near the Capitol. Since it’s the day before the Inauguration (if you’re reading this later), we’re essentially stuck here. Streets have been blocked off and highway exits are closed. Also, All of the areas where I used to walk around the Capitol at the beginning of quarantine are completely covered in fencing.

What really threw me though, was I was reading a headline this morning and it said that D.C. was closed off to the public. But I’m part of the public. The 700K residents in D.C. are the public. Yet again, the news disregarded the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of real US citizens living in D.C. Our lives are disrupted, put in danger, and we don’t actually have a vote in Congress. D.C. isn’t just made up of politicians and monuments, there are real people here too.

So please,

Please just remember when the news is talking about the horrendous people who stormed the Capitol or who might show up again, those people were walking through our neighborhoods armed. They were staying at hotels near our apartments, parking on our streets, and loading up on tour busses right by where we lived. Those people didn’t just appear at the Capitol and then disappear when they were done. They walked through our streets, shouting at regular citizens who had done nothing wrong.

And don’t tell me that this is just a by product of moving to D.C. Terrorism casually walking through your streets is not a by product of moving to any city.