A little something stupid I co-wrote for the American Action Network

Quintessential Class: The Origins of Bow Tie Tuesday

 

We have often pondered the nature of the tie. Why is it expected in certain environments to hang a tailored piece of cloth from your neck? Perhaps that question is too existential. That is for the sages of yore and the scholars of now to discuss. We have not reached that level of thought… yet.

But, we have experienced several levels of dress, while interning in Washington, the District of Colombia. We have come to one conclusion from our time in this city on a hill.

What is classier than a bow tie?

The short answer is nothing. Perhaps a bow tie coupled with a cumber bund, but there may be such a thing as too classy.

There is a myth called Bow Tie Tuesday. Some say it doesn’t exist, but we are here to tell you that it does and it is growing. Tuesday used to be a day without anything to look forward too, until now. Bow Ties. Real ones. Everywhere. Every Tuesday. That is our dream and we will fight for it until the end of time.

To date, three interns have embraced the idea of Bow Tie Tuesday. We are reminded of Star Wars as an appropriate allegory at this time. Forces of good exist and they perpetually war against the forces of evil (aka Han). However, the forces of good, seem to be gaining momentum as a fourth person, an employee no less, has pledged to take part in next week’s Bow Tie Tuesday.

Change can be slow and often cumbersome. But, we will not rest until the bow tie has won.

If we don’t fight, who will?

By Ben Gitis, Mark Bednar, and Ross Freiman-Mendel

Spottings and confidence

In DC, if you walk around and don't space out too much, you're bound to see famous government people. There are two types I have noticed while here: those who I should have heard of and those who I instantly recognize. Regarding the former, this happens often. I'll be walking with Pete and he'll point to somebody, explaining "That's Rep so-and-so, Chairman of the this-and-that committee." It happened for example with Krauthammer, who I had not heard of until before this internship. Normally it's cool, and I proceed with the tasks of the day. However, the latter is often more difficult, because failure to solicit someone I instantly recognize results in the missed opportunity for an interview. Please excuse any bragging connotations, but I while in DC I have shied away from soliciting 1) Michelle Bachman at breakfast 2) Roy Blunt walking with a staffer from his Senate office building 3) Debbie Wasserman-Schultz in the metro (Chip's fault, not mine) 4) Janet Yellen at the Fed 5) David Axelrod entering the White house and 6) yesterday a sweaty Al Franken leaving the squash courts. Hope prevails! As they say, "7th time's a charm."

Hitting up the museums

Mass workout in the National Mall

One nice thing about DC is that all the public museums are free. In the short time that I've been here, I've tried to visit as many museums as possible -- checks off my tourist bucket/to-do list. In addition to hanging with Ethan Underhill (which was awesome-blossom) this weekend, I visited the Air and Space Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the Holocaust Museum. Generally the exhibits were great, albeit slightly childish. Being that it's summer in DC, attendance to any of the museums is actually quite annoying. It can be difficult to appreciate the magnificence or profundity of an exhibit when surrounded by throngs of crowds: hot, sweaty, body odor, stupid commentary and loud Chinese filling the atrium, shoving, pushing, and the list goes on. For this reason, I entered and quickly strolled through the Air and Space and the Natural History Museum. In contrast, the Holocaust Museum was far more civil. Surprisingly -- and I found this encouraging -- the museum was packed. But the exhibits are only open to "x" numbers of people at a time, giving one time to appreciate the exhibits in a more personal, less tourist intrusive manner. The museum was very moving and depressing, but having actually been to Auschwitz, it didn't nor could it compare.

A mini Choate reunion

Last night, Chip, Serena Elavia, CJ Bell, and I went to Founding Farmers to have a nice meal before all of them left DC for the summer (I still have one more week). It was so nice to reconnect with old friends -- Serena and CJ primarily, as I see Chip almost every day -- and do it over a very nice meal. We went wild with the menu: crispy fried green tomatoes, Prince Edward Island mussels with chorizo, bacon lollipops, flat breads, crab cakes, pastas, shrimp-and-grits, and the list goes on. The meal was absolutely delicious, if not a bit superfluous. Choate afforded us a level of intimate conversation, a consequence of over 3 years of a unique, shared experience. It was nice to reconnect with Choate, even if it was only a couple months after graduation.

Heat

Notice the temperatures in each city

The Senate Gallery

Yesterday the Senate voted to raise the debt ceiling. If anything, that's kind of historic, given the length of the debate and the supposed dangers at hand. In the morning, all of the interns had a tour of the Capitol with an intern for Boehner's office, which afforded us the opportunity to see the House gallery. When entering the galleries from the visitor center, there is a security check point after which you decide whether to take a left to the House or a right to the Senate (important later). After our mediocre tour (if I'm going to be completely honest), 3 other interns and I decided it would be awesome to travel to the Senate gallery and watch the debate and vote on the Senate bill. The story follows:

11:00. We all headed to Sen. Orrin Hatch's office and play the constituent card in order to get tickets to the Senate gallery. Easy as pie -- we didn't have to fight for them.

11:30. In 90-100 degree weather, we hauled you-know-what across the Capitol, helped set up an event for the AAF on the House side, and then went back again to the Senate side.

11:42 (approximation). We enter the Capitol visitors center and notice there is a 200+ person line for the Senate gallery.

11:45. Matt the intern has a brilliant idea. We can bypass the line for the Senate gallery by taking the elevator to the House side. Once up there, we can swap our House badges for our newly acquired Senate badges, and voila, we've circumnveted the line and stuck it to the man.

11:47. Nathan and I realize we threw out the House badges we got at Boehner's office at the end of the tour. We can enter the elevator to House gallery and are stuck at the entrance.

11:50. Nathan and I beg unsuspecting tourists who had completed the tour for their badges. We eventually pressure (maybe too harsh a word) some nice foreigners who have already been to the gallery to give us their badges.

12:00. We triumphantly exit the elevator, having just successfully cut a 200 person line, to find out that the gallery has been full for hours, and there is no chance we can enter. We are turned away at security but are politely reminded we can visit the House gallery. How exciting! Twice in a day and the House is on recess.

Perhaps we should have done our research more thoroughly ...

Party on the boat

I'm writing this post during a break at work, so please excuse the brevity. For the past couple of weeks, I've been staying on a 55 foot boat (size will become relevant later...). Though it's been a blast -- and far superior to dirty, crowded, hookah ridden GW housing -- the three of us have been cramped. JY and Ethan are now staying with us, making the grand total 5 people on the boat. That's equivalent to 11 feet per person. So while it's a total party, it's also quite cramped ... But you know, after living in closets for 4 straight years, having a water front view ain't too shabby.