Overheard:
"No body puts Baby in the corner."
- guy with a spanish accent
"Why is this in Philly? It's being held in other capital cities, Paris, London, Rome..."
"Come on, do you really think they want a million people in DC?"
"Maybe they're planning for a huge 4th of July celebration on the Mall?"
- twenty-something year old kids
Dumbasses. I wonder if they were even alive when Live Aid was in Philly.
I pulled into 30th Street Station around 11am and followed the crowd to the Ben Franlkin Parkway. Holy F'n crowded!! At first, there was room around me, but as I walked closer towards the art museum, the crowd closed in on me. In the middle of the road people were staking their claim with blankets and chairs. They were right in front of one of the jumbotron tvs so it was like being at a drive in movie. I walked further up past the food vendors and found myself stuck by another jumbotron tv but at least I was in the shade.
I had come with the idea that this would be a lovefest. That everyone would be in a great mood here to enjoy the music, the message and to celebrate our freedom. I think most of those people stayed home because I heard a lot of this:
"If one more person touches me I'm gonna hit someone."
"We should make people pay a toll to walk across my blanket."
"I'm fucking sweating!"
When the Black Eyed Peas came on I was able to get my groove on on my little patch of sidewalk, but soon the crowd grew to overwhelming proportions and I had to make my escape. I was able to listen to Bon Jovi in a more comfortable place where I could lay out on the grass. It was the perfect place to watch the world go by, I was in the shade, I had my lunch, Destiny's Child was shouting out to all the Independant Women and all was beautiful in the world.
By 2:30 I had enough and was ready to head back. It was crazy, sweaty and I couldn't get anywhere near the stage to see. But I'm glad that I went because at least I can say that I was there.
The train to take me back to Trenton was 30 minutes late, then when it did finally arrive we boarded only to be told to get off 10 minutes later because the train had mechanical problems and had to be replaced. Ugh. All I wanted was a shower and food.
