Have you seen the President lately? And no, I don't mean on TV; I mean in person. So have you? Yeah, didn't think so. But go ahead and ask me. "Allison, have youuuu seen the President lately?" Why yes, yes, I have. I saw him today to be exact.
Ok, well that's a small stretch of the truth, BUT, I did see the entire motorcade and President Obama's shadow through the darkly tinted SUV. That's right people. The small, sleepy town that I often complain about was the place to be today. President Barack Obama visisted A&M's campus today to speak about the importance of community service. He spoke to a crowd of just under 600 people, and as it was invitation only, I wasn't able to go. (I thought SmartandSassyWithSprinkles totally deserved a press pass, but I guess the President's office sees things differently). My friends and I hadn't really planned to scout out watch spots or anything, but as the afternoon wore on and I sat at my desk, I got to thinking. "The President of the United States is going to be on the campus where I work and go to school, and I'm not going? People are going to ask me what it was like to catch a glimpse of him, and I'm going to say I was sitting at my desk?" Oh hell no. So I grabbed my friends/coworkers Norma and Arthur and headed to see if we get could get in on the action. Turns out, we had pretty sweet "seats" to watch Obama roll in. (Yes, we were technically standing the whole time, but I can inject a little imaginary VIP into my experience if I choose to.)
At 3:57 pm, as we stood pressed up against the barricades, we heard chants and cheers from the other side of campus. We knew he was on his way. Before we could say anything, the motorcade came roaring past us, the Presidential seal waving on the flags, with all of us screaming wildly. It all happened so fast, but we were able to see Obama's outline in the backseat of the second SUV. It was awesome and ridiculously surreal. Even though I didn't get an up close and personal view of the President, I certainly got enough to get excited, ecstatic, and slightly emotional. And to top it off, I got to share the experience with some really great people, who will now be able to say with me, "I saw President Barack Obama on October, 16, 2009." Pretty. dang. cool.
Students lining up hoping to catch a glimpse of Obama
We're ready!
Here he comes! (PS: the pictures do not do this moment justice. I was shrieking too loudly to focus on taking quality pictures.)
Obama, nestled nicely in the backseat.
Norma and I are happy campers. We just saw the President of the United States! Too bad we had to go back to the office after this :)
**Arthur took an awesome video during the whole experience, and my computer doesn't have what I need to upload it, so you'll have to wait in suspense until Monday when I'm in the office and can upload it.**
3 comments:
O Allison, I can relate to your shrieking. I went crazy. Such a great moment. Can't wait for the video :)
So happy to have shared that moment with you!! =) Thanks for convincing me to go out there ;)
So cool! I saw Hilary Clinton speak when I was a student at Yale to a room of about 200 people and it was pretty amazing. I begged to get a ticket to that event.
The President was here last week, but I didn't happen to get to see him. So exciting that you did!
Post a Comment