DC is a STRANGE STRANGE place

I just went to get some coffee at the 'bou and i realized that DC is like no place on earth. It's not bad or good, just unique to itself.

Just take Cleveland Park. The people that come into the store, i love them all, for the most part, there a few annoying parents/adults/children that i could do without, but for the most part, they are all great and i enjoy them coming into the store. BUT go just down the street (literally less than one block away) and go to Whatsa Bagel and its a completely different group of people. and by different, i mean, i hate them all. they are a whole new breed of CPers that i DO NOT enjoy. It's like they got rejected from Bethesda and are "stuck" in CP...but they aren't CPers at heart. I dislike them more than the people in bethsda, at least those people are 'true to themselves' and refuse to live in the city, opting for the posh 'burbs of B-town.

the people that live and work here cannot be placed under one heading. We're not all jocks or preps or stoners or anything. None of the cliche generalizations of people really work here. We are no new york or LA but we are something. Something has to be said about the combination of happy hours, conservative buisness suits, fashion (or lack thereof), homelessness and red tape of this city. Somehow all these things mesh well together and create this city we all call home (or at least work in). How can I live and work right down the street from 'power' of the free world and yet feel so powerless?

speaking of power, you never know who the fuck you're sitting next to on the metro or the bus for that matter (although, the population on the metro is VERY different than on the bus...). You might be sitting to some high ranking member of congress (doubtful, but possible), a crazy protestor, an intern (very likely). Who knows.

Also, DC is a place that is very much like high school. you hang out with teh same people all the time and don't venture outside of your social status. Those that work on the Hill, stay on the Hill, go to bars on the Hill, date other Hill Staffers (for the most part) and ONLY associate with those of their same party...there is no inter-political party dating around these parts. In Boston and other cities it is perfectly normal to see a republican and democrat date, learn to love each other despite differences (it's alike a red sox fan dating an yankee fan-- it doesn't happen often, but does and makes a good news story for when the yanks come to town). But here (again for the most part) you only date people that register for the same party as you. the party lines are cut very clearly and very deep...rarely do you cross those lines. And when you do, its a strange thing, because the other's friends are from the other party, so not only are you dating the enemy you're dating the enemy's party as well. Rarely does dating outside of your party work in DC. Which is sad, because most of the guys i'm personally attracted to (mostly based on physical appearance) are republican. thankfully i am not too far leaning left to completely offend a majority of people, so i think i'm safe. BUT since i hang out with all dems, my scope of boy hunting is limited to the shallow pool of eligible bachelors in the DC area.

ok, i think that is my rant for the day. back to working on Higher Education crap, but hey, if it gets me an invite to an international meeting in Spain on 2006, i'm game!