Spring Is In The Air

A new season has arrived along with the erratically warmer weather—tourist season. Like most District residents, tourists annoy me. But many more things annoy me than annoy most District residents, so having a city full of tour groups (from middle school age to elderly) really does not demand the percentage of my attention that it seems to demand from others. Sure, I’d like to be able to go for a jog near the monuments without dodging roving packs of people, and I’d love to be able to eat at my local Chipotle without having to fight 30 high schoolers for a table. But tourists are just a fact of living in the capital.

Of course, like all District residents, I am somewhat fixated on my right to walk up the left hand side of a Metro escalator while the non-walkers stand to the right. If I’m unable to exercise that right, though, I’m surprisingly not usually miffed. I usually just wait behind the offender, or if I’m in a hurry, politely excuse myself and pass on by. I generally find myself more annoyed with the DC residents who spill countless ounces of ink and waste ridiculous amounts of breath complaining about people who do not understand the “fundamental laws” of Metro escalator riding. But when the tourist stands on the left side of the escalator to take a picture of himself on the escalator with his camera phone, I draw the line. I know the escalators are long and very interesting, but please use the right side for all of your picture-taking needs.