Well, then, if it was so cold, what was I doing there? I was on a field trip with a bunch of 8th graders. I volunteered to chaperone and I was in charge of seven 13 year old boys who demanded to see the White House since the bus dropped us off on the National Mall and we had 2 hours to look at the war memorials before we had to be back on the bus. My boys, though, wanted to see the White House so we trudged up 16th Street to Pennsylvania Ave.
We talked about all the extra security and Secret Service men who were out since the recent White House break-in by that crazy guy. They seemed to be duly impressed about this and I gave them the speech about how people like to protest in front of the White House and to be prepared for weird people.
We rounded the corner to the north side of the White House and everyone took their selfies and speculated about there being guys on the roof. There were I told them. With guns, I told them. Duly impressed. There was a policeman with a dog and they were impressed with that, too. Then someone said, "Look at that crazy guy!" And there truly was a disheveled looking man rolling a suitcase with an American flag who had stopped to pray to Mecca on his forehead in the middle of Pennsylvania Ave. Fortunately that block had been closed to traffic.
As we made our way over toward him, there was a JW lady with TWO rolly carts. She was all bundled up against the weather because it was literally freezing out. Each cart had its own publication which I studiously avoided looking at. As we walked by her, she brightly said, "Hello!" to the boys and I held my breath waiting for her to say something else. The boys said, "Hello," and kept on walking past her to the crazy looking Muslim guy who was praying with forehead on the pavement just past her. That guy was very interesting to a group of 13 year old boys. I mentioned again that all kinds of people come to the White House to protest or make their agenda known.
As we passed by the JW lady, one of the kids asked about her. I think they were curious to see if she was selling souvenirs. "No," said the boy closest to her, "It's just Watchtower stuff." "What's that?" asked another. "Oh, they're just a publisher that prints stuff for religions."
I left that exchange alone. And we moved away looking for a food truck and heading toward the Lincoln Memorial.
She truly did just look like one of the crazies. Right next to the homeless Muslim and other assorted malcontents that gather in front of the White House. The boys in my group got their "witness" today and they did not seem to be very impressed.