So, around 9p, we hear the fireworks start popping off. While there was no particular interest in being part of the crowds this year, we’re only a few miles from the Mall and the sky above the house was changing colors in time with the booms. So, on a lark, we jump into the car to head down Wilson Blvd. until we can see the pretty colors. The best place for that turns out to be (unsurprisingly) the parking lot of the former Taco Bell/Bardo property. So we pull in (along with maybe a dozen other cars) to the empty-about-to-be-bulldozed lot. We take in – along with families, new couples, old marrieds, and pretty much a cross section of Arlington – a celebration of American independence.
And then someone yells “Tow truck!”
Yep, some sorry son of a bitch came in and towed a family’s car (still posted from the old Taco Bell days). Despite the guy running along side the car and pleading, the truck took the car. So the rest of us spent the next 10 minutes with one eye on the fireworks, and another on the parking lot. One kind soul blocked off one entrance with her car (she could see the fireworks from it) so we didn’t have to worry about that one. I kept my eye on the other, and am glad I didn’t have to find out if my plan for that one worked.
And while I was annoyed, it struck me that I was standing in the middle of America. None of us could afford a view of the Mall from our homes. We were just trying to take a few minutes to be a part of the common experience. But to do it, we had to head someowhere less than ideal, and worry a bit about some asshole that was so selfish he’d ruin it for the rest of us so he could put another dollar in his pocket.
But we did it. The kids next to me – moving between Spanish and English – were jazzed. The family over there – talking about how the son really only knew a few words of Farsi – was quietly enjoying itself. The Arlington old-hands behind us were annoyed that the Odyssey condo building had ruined yet another view from the formerly all-seeing hill in Courthouse.
And we were all Americans.
I love my city.
DT
meanwhile, on this end of the pond, we read in the paper that flickign someone the bird in this desert country will get you a significant fine and a madatory deportation.
Missed my first July 4th as an american ciizen. maybe i will sharpen my bird flickign skills in time for next years and score a free ticket to come home.
MB
Does the bird even translate, there? Or are they looking for something else to hang on outsiders who show insufficient respect?