Hobnobbing
Last night I volunteered at the Candlelight Dinner #1 at Union Station for the inauguration. This past week D.C. has been crazy with one even after another. I only worked/attended this one, but it gave a good taste of the frenzied fun.
I heard a rumor that this dinner was only for those that had donated over $100,000 to the Republican Party. I also heard that it was $2,500 a ticket, though I am sure that it varied depending upon which table since some were definately better situated than others. Whether or not these rumors were true, it is true that some very rich people were there. I do wish I knew more faces because I probably said "hi" to about a hundred important people without knowing it.
My job was to stand outside under the red carpet tent and greet people. It was easy to spot the Texans. It was very cold and I was dressed in an evening gown. I improved my situation in three ways. (1) I was wearing a wool coat. (2) I wore dark gray wool socks with my open toed strappy dress shoes. And if you did not think that was a fashion statement I finished it off with (3) pink long underwear pants. Probably no one at the dinner saw the long underwear, though I know many in the Metro did. I can safely assume many people saw my socks. But what does it matter, I attended for free and they had to pay a lot of money.
My job was done pretty much at the time that the event started. The President arrived so we rushed inside so that we wouldn't get locked outside when they locked down the building. After that all that was left was to enjoy the event. Since we were in black tie (we meaning Zac and I), we were able to be inside with all the guests. Really the only thing we couldn't do was eat the food and sit at the tables. But there were other chairs around and enough standing room to be able to spend your time in the main area. Upstairs there was a volunteer room where we could hang out and eat volunteer food (which was actually really good). A few people spoke. The ones I recognized were the President and the Vice President.
I came home with a few mementos. An orange rose from one of the centerpieces (which btw, the place was decorated beautifully), a program, and my "credentials". Hopefully my pictures will turn out. I was definately a great time. Probably mostly because in many ways it felt like attending for real instead of volunteering.
Next time: "Who Am I?"