Obama was in my 'hood

[D Rusak]

You know you are completely out of touch with the MSM when you don't realize until 6 hours after the fact that the president of the US was giving a speech 4 blocks away from you.

I have not been reading any local papers or mainstream sources as of late, I read a local paper every once in a while on the train but that's it. I haven't been taking public transportation as of late so I didn't make it a priority to check recently.

The curious thing is that I was out and about the neighborhood today/this past week and no one else mentioned it either. Actually, I didn't hear anyone in town mention it over the last week, and I saw a lot of people, both familiar and not (gigs with lots of people, sign ins for auditions at a school I teach at). Several hundred faces at least. Or maybe it's a sign that it's pretty irrelevant to most others, too.

I don't know if I should be ashamed of my ignorance or feel pleased I didn't waste any time caring.

 

[knowledge_of_self]

The curious thing is that I was out and about the neighborhood today/this past week and no one else mentioned it either. Actually, I didn't hear anyone in town mention it over the last week, and I saw a lot of people, both familiar and not (gigs with lots of people, sign ins for auditions at a school I teach at). Several hundred faces at least. Or maybe it's a sign that it's pretty irrelevant to most others, too.

I'm not surprised that not many people cared that he was giving a speech, he's not very popular these days ;)

I don't know if I should be ashamed of my ignorance or feel pleased I didn't waste any time caring.

I'd go with the latter, but that's just me. :P

 

[doublea1535]

You know you are completely out of touch with the MSM when you don't realize until 6 hours after the fact that the president of the US was giving a speech 4 blocks away from you.

I know exactly what you mean! He came to my town about a year ago and I didn't realize until the night before, but he was also just 4 blocks away from where I lived. If I hadn't driven my wife to work I might have never have known at all.

 

[Cyre2067]

Wow you're lucky D, when he comes to NYC everything, and I mean EVERYTHING shuts down. They blockade off huge chunks of midtown, some subways run funny, and there's cops and barricades all over the place. I really despise the time he spends in the city because it's so disruptive, my work commute becomes a trial by fire and most NYC residents don't want him here and are perturbed that moving across town becomes so difficult.

To illustrate, I was walking down to a friends place, a mere 15 blocks away from my home and 4-5 blocks away the street was closed off. Cops lined both sides and had little barricades set up and wouldn't let anyone cross the street. When I asked what was going on they said the president's motorcade was coming through, and when I asked How long are we supposed to sit here and wait for his unholiness to pass they told me they didn't know! Well after about 10 minutes and crowds gathering on both sides people just pushed their way past the cops and we crossed the street regardless. That part felt nice.

 

[brainwave]

Indeed Puck. It is a huge disruption. It also happens when the Israeli prime minister visits the city.
Forget the the upper eastside of manhattan. The street where my job is gets shut down and lined with cops too, and you have to give evidence for being there when he is in town.

brainwave.

 

[D Rusak]

I think if was downtown that would have been the case, I remember visits by Bush and it would take me a good half hour to figure out how to go 4 blocks to my apartment! Obama was speaking at a school this time (similar to a visit Bush did about 2 years ago, also not far from me). There is a major roadway that splits the city and I bet that's where everything was blocked off. I didn't walk far enough in that direction yesterday, however. My neighborhood is sort of abandoned factories, some of which have been turned into condos, other abandoned buildings, and random families and young college students/grads, so the area is pretty empty during the day anyway.

I can understand about NYC though. I remember having my car searched once going into the tunnel because I looked "suspicious": college-aged, reasonably clean-cut girl, with a dirty white car and side view mirrors held on with duck tape, and mystery "boxes" (instrument cases) in the back. In Philly no one cares as much, guess they don't think as much of us! :P