Miami Vegan Blog

I went to the Obama Rally last night. We got there around 3:30 p.m. There was a winding line and we just so happened to get in the front of the line by asking some guy a question about the line. He didn't know which was the end or the beginning. Anyway, we got through and passed all the vendors selling $5 shirts, $10 shirts, 2 for $5 buttons. It was overwhelming. Every couple of feet people were asking us to volunteer to get signatures for different causes. One lady got really aggressive and followed me for 50 feet asking me to help pregnant teens. I was hot, sticky, hungry and not interested, not now anyway. Residually, another woman asked a few minutes later. I didn't even turn around for her. She got really angry and said, "I'm just trying to help Obama!" I still didn't turn around. I thought she walked away, she didn't. She added, "You know some people have the nastiest attitudes and it makes my job much harder." Sweetie, I'm sure you've been ignored before - don't take it personally. I'm sorry I upset her but maybe she should find another job, where her feelings can be protected. I just was sick of people bum rushing me 10 times in 30 minutes - nothing personal.

We got to the steps and waited for them to open up the metal detector area. A man on a bullhorn said that if you have a blue ticket, you can skip this line. Woohoo, we had a blue ticket because we registered online. We mosied on over to the "special line" and I had my pursed molested, by a woman thank goodness.

It was so hot, I thought I would faint. I sat down near the stage and waited for the peace van to arrive. Several officials got up to speak, but the closer you were to the stage, the less you could see or hear. They had music going, bands, food, drinks etc. In the meantime, I took photos of all the different races of people who showed up to support Obama. It was a mixed bag. Black, white, hispanic, indian, jewish, asian ... everybody. That part was really cool.

When Obama arrived, everyone started pushing and shoving, getting out their cameras. Adults and children sat on people's shoulders to get a better look. There was an abnormal distribution of really tall people there, over 6'3". I still got some good shots and video.

It got very chaotic after about 10 minutes, so we decided to leave. As we headed for the exit, the people further back could hear everything and see much more than those in the front. Ironically.

The exit - what exit. The large crowds of people still waited to get in was insane. I've never seen so many people in my life - other than in the Miami Arena. These were the 5 o'clockers. We waited for 15 minutes to be let out, because the people coming in blocked the exit. I was behind a woman in a wheelchair. I actually saw someone climb over her. I'm happy we left when we did because 30,000 people trying to leave sounds like a nightmare.

It was amazing and I'm glad I got to share that with my daddy. :)

~inga~