Adrian Fenty Made Me Late For Work

I was so close to making it into work on time this morning for a change. Last night I stayed in reading the Paris Review and watching the Hills (like that juxtaposition of the high-and low-brow?) and I got to sleep at a decent hour. Not a drop of alcohol passed my lips. I was perfectly well behaved and I loved every second of it. I awoke at a relatively decent hour (7:30) and while getting ready, threw on a skirt, tank top, cardigan combo noting that the ensemble vaguely resembled a sensible grown up outfit. I even went to the effort of finding my good purse and using that instead of the crummy Urban Outfitters thing I've been toting around recently. Checking the clock on my way out I noted that I was running pretty much on time. My chances of making it to Silver Spring by 9:00 were slim, but I would definitely get there by 9:05.

Jamming my ipod ear buds into my ears I trotted off to the Woodley Park Metro at an efficient clip. I'm one of those pedestrians that views walking as a means of transporting oneself from point A to point B, rather than say, an excuse to stroll around aimlessly, so I tend to walk pretty fast and I have little tolerance for people BSing around on the sidewalk. At the Metro I encountered a huge mess of people congesting foot traffic near the escalators. By the clipboards they held I figured they were affiliated with some political cause. I have a lot of experience dealing with petition drives through my last job working on ballot measure campaigns and nobody has more sympathy towards the plight of the signature gatherer than me. I almost ALWAYS stop to sign petitions (if I support the cause of course) and I sometimes even engage the canvassers in conversation. But today I was feeling selfish and I REALLY wanted to be on time for work.

I dodged my way through the crowd and was almost to the escalator when a man forcefully stepped in front me and shoved a clipboard at me. I was about to be annoyed when I looked up to see that it was Adrian Fenty.

Now let me just stop here to explain the small crush I have held for Fenty over the years. When he ran for City Council I was working at a non-profit dedicated to inner-city DC economic development and education issues. He and my boss were on good terms and they'd occasionally meet. Fenty seemed young and energetic. As a fellow-Oberlin alum, it impressed me that he had adopted a career of proactively making the world a better place, rather than slouching into sneering hipster-dom in Williamsburg as so many of our peers had. Over the years he has established himself as a champion of innovative economic development strategies as well. In short, I've been a fan for a while and fully support his Mayoral bid.

I couldn't very well blow him off so I stopped to sign his petition, impressed that he was out on the street doing the same grunt work as his volunteers. Slightly star struck, I blurted out that we both attended Oberlin, and he politely responded with a series of questions about what I do now and how I like it. I know full well that it was the part of the perfunctory baby-kissing, handshaking, vote-getting tactics that all politicos employee to garner votes, but I couldn't help feel a little honored and giddy to have been a target. Thoroughly thrown off my game, I wished him luck just as he shoved a business card into my hand and asked me if he had my vote. I nodded and descended the escalator. Sprinting through the turnstile in the station I saw that it was now 8:30 and my chances of a timely arrival at work were effectively screwed. No matter, he still has my support.