Red Line Metro Crash

There's a silence uncharacteristic of Washington D.C. purveying the streets today. The buses are full, metro is empty yet the common understanding innate in the human spirit causes people to acquiesce, remaining patient as the city adjusts to the tragedy of yesterday. Most are probably thinking, "It could have been me." I know I am.

Riding the red line into town today was just as chaotic as it was yesterday. Like sardines we squeeze together, making room for just one more. Yet at a certain point the bus is too crowded and safety issues come into play. One man trying to step onto our already packed bus must not have seen the news yesterday, for he shouts, "What is going on here?" at our bus driver who is all too accommodating to the circumstance. There was a red line metro crash yesterday during rush hour. On CNN last night, the footage of people being rescued was almost too hard to watch. Several people on stretchers weren’t moving. Most people riding the metro are reading or zoning out without fear that at any moment there may be a crash. There are no seatbelts or restraints of any kind on the metro, but then there’s never any doubt that something may go wrong. Here’s what we know so far:

• 76 confirmed injured
• 9 confirmed dead
• This is the third Metro crash in the past 15 years in Washington D.C.
• The collision occurred between the Fort Trotten and Takoma station.
• The trains were going the same direction, but hit with such force that one train was left resting on top of the other.

Speculation sets in. What was the female driver of the second car doing? Weren’t there systems in place to compensate for human error? Most phones don’t have service when the metro is underground, yet this crash occurred above ground. Could she have been texting? What kind of training do these drivers have before they are certified to be responsible for millions of lives daily?

This is not the first crash, nor will it be the last on any vehicle of transportation. But barring what happened with the airplane crash from Brazil and now this, I begin to question the training involved with pilots, conductors and the like. Has our society become lax in the issues of properly training individuals to do their jobs and testing them sporadically as well as holding them accountable for the lives at stake? This accident could and should have been avoided, how can one explain that to the families of those that didn’t make it?

To learn more, visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/22/AR2009062203261.html?hpid=topnews

Washington D.C. Interns et. al

So, shady is the nicest way for me to describe my whereabouts in D.C. for the time being. I'm still looking for a place to stay and until then my brother suggested I get some mace to carry around? Really, must it come to that?

Saturday, I went apartment (room) shopping. Some prospects, but nothing to report except for the fact that some dude wanted to lease his room for $1400 and made it sound like he was doing me a favor, while at another house the 'housemates' asked me questions like "Do you like 2 Pac, Do you eat meat, do you like sports? What the hell does any of this have to do with me renting a room from you people? and yes to all.

After 6 miles, blistered feet and borderline exhaustion/frustration/starvation I went to the Jazz Festival on the national mall. What a freakin cure all. All I needed was a beer and I would have been in heaven. This girl I met on the metro (interning at Dept. of Homeland Security) joined me and we had a splendid time, then went to Oyamel's for some Spanish tapas. A thank you lady who works at the Mexican embassy and recommended it-Touche. We sat at the bar, chatted up the chef and got some sweet little tuna ceviche appetizzle for it.

Sunday went to church, tried to learn the bus system (watched my first live drug deal at the bus stop) went to whole foods, saw my first ever black squirrel (apparently they're mean little suckers) and went to dinner at my friend Paul's house. Sidenote, Paul and his dad and bro went golfing and OBama was there golfing-I asked Paul to run over there and give the Pres a hug for me, no such luck. :(

Day one of internship can best be described with my favorite A words- Awkward and Awesome. Awkward, because I feel as though everyone's gotta take a punch in the gut for their humiliation to kick in and and 'intern status' which I thought would be different when you're a graduate intern, is just perfect for pride. The weird shit of 'Do I introduce myself, do I not' and every other self conscious thought came right back up like a nasty egg salad sandwich does in your throat. Saving grace of the day, awesome event the Global Health Council put on concerning the W.H.O.'s efforts to eradicate polio can be viewed later on in the week on http://www.globalhealth.org/.

I just read these great little blips about d.c. interns that my dear little Kitty Cat Blackburn Frazier sent me and they're glorious. Based on what most D.C. dwellers think about interns, I've decided to keep my title top secret with most. Besides, I think I blend in. But that's probably what all the interns think.

Enjoy

http://dcist.com/2008/05/28/how_not_to_be_t.php#more

http://www.politico.com/blogs/anneschroeder/0609/The_DC_Intern_site_oh_yeah.html