Just Something I Know

This morning for various different reasons, Ellie and I drove Matt into work. Because the trial he is currently involved with is being held at the Library of Congress, this meant we were headed to Capitol Hill, my old stomping grounds. After a quick drop off, I decided to get back on the freeway on the Senate side of the Hill because I always get a little confused on the House side - being an old Senate staffer.* We were just approaching the Senate Hart Building and there was a black SUV which was double parked, which I decided I was just going to go around. As I approached, I saw two men walking around the car to get into it. I stopped to allow them the opportunity to get in without me being in their way. But they waved me on. It was then that I recognized one of them as Senator McConnell from Kentucky, who is currently the Republican Leader in the Senate.

It dawned on me how most folks in this circumstance wouldn't recognize him at all. I'm sure they probably would have guessed that he was someone important or even deduced that he was a senator. But I knew exactly who he was because, well, as a former Senate staffer, it's just something I know. I had them all memorized - what they looked like, what committees they served on, most of their stands on issues, the important stuff. Unfortunately, now that it's been almost four years since I worked there, I don't really know the new members and of course some committee assignments have changed as well - not to mention majority parties, etc. But still, it's just a random bit of knowledge I have tucked away in that brain of mine. Too bad, it's not really good for anything, but to identify senators on the street.** Oh well.

*It's amazing how different the two sides of the Hill are - especially the way offices are and how they are run, but that's a different story.

**Of course, I do have a friend who correctly identified former Congressman Gary Condit while he was dumping a suspicious package shortly after the disappearance of Chandra Levy. He quickly called the police who found the infamous watch case in that very trash can. So, who knows, maybe all of my memorization efforts will come to use someday.