What you need to know about presidential inaugurations

(The StoryADay.org prompt for Day 8 of National Short Story Writing Month is to write from a second-person point of view. Not an I; not a he or she; not a We; and not a they. But a you. Puzzling over how to write as a "you", I realized that I often use the "you" when I am talking out loud to myself or when I am writing directly to someone else. For example, feedback to a student, a letter to a friend, an e-mail to my mother. And curiously, even as I am writing to "you", the word "I" creeps in quite a bit.
So continuing with the series of stories begun yesterday on Live from D.C., 2013: President Obama and Me, here's my effort to write with "you")

What you might want to know before you head to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration of the next president in 2016:

1. The inauguration will be a historic event, no matter who is elected to the office of the president. You may worship the person or revile the person. You will not be going to the event unbiased. Neutrality cannot exist.

2. You will be cold. The nation's capitol enjoys early springs, hot and humid summers, pleasant falls, and generally mild winters. But January in the District of Columbia is bone-jarringly cold. In 2009, the freeze from the ground seeped through sneakers and two layers of boots. In 2013, I did squats and jogged in place to keep my body warm. You need to be prepared to spend hours outdoors in temperatures that might range from the single-digits to the thirties. Bring mittens, a hat, a scarf. Wear long underwear. Dress in layers. Wear Smart-Wool socks. Forget about looking fancy. If you are focused on going to an inaugural ball, skip the daytime events. Watch them on TV and save the celebration for later.

3. You probably will not see the president, up close and in person. The president most likely will not see you or make any kind of eye contact with you. If you think this lack of interaction will ruin the event, don't worry. It will not. What you will see and feel and hear instead will be America. Hundreds of thousands of people both like and unlike yourselves attending this historic event, wanting to witness what will be recorded in history books as it is unfolding.

4. Travel lightly. This advice goes back to point #2. The less you carry, the more you can focus on taking care of your own bodily needs and recording the event you have come to the nation's capitol to witness for posterity. In addition, you are likely to encounter security checks at both the National Mall and along the route of the Inauguration Day parade. Having less on your person speeds you through those checkpoints considerably faster. It also helps others who have come for the inauguration because they will not have to wait for you. In 2009, I only carried what could fit easily into my pants and jacket pockets: a Metro card, a debit card, $20 cash, my Blackberry Curve smart-phone, and a charger. And ID. In 2013, the scenario was not much different. Instead of a Blackberry, I had an iPhone. I also stuffed my pockets with easy-to-carry, high-protein snacks: trail mix, peanut M&Ms, and a small bottle of water. The snacks also helped keep me warm, as I waited from 7:45 to 11:30 a.m. for the public swearing-in ceremony to begin.

5. Bring one extra digital camera or small compact wireless device, if you can. This is the main mistake I feel I made in both 2009 and 2013. With hundreds of thousands of people competing for wireless connections, the Internet jams. And when the Internet jams, iPhone, iPad, and laptop batteries drain. In 2013, I realized about ninety minutes before the inauguration was to begin that my Facebook posts, photographs, and Twitter posts weren't uploading. The only thing I could transmit easily was text messages. But with each text my battery drained one to two percentage points further. So I was caught in a dilemma: Do I communicate with all of you what I was witnessing and experiencing? Or do I simply watch and wait? If I go to the next inauguration, in 2017, I will bring a digital camera and an extra battery. If all else fails, I'll be able to snap photos and document the experience later.

You might be wondering why you should attend the inauguration. My guess is that the surge of people who descend upon the District of Columbia amuses those who live in the D.C. area themselves. You will get a better view on TV. You will be warm. You will actually see the president and you will see the featured performers. What you will miss is the view from the streets. You will see the crowds from an aerial view; you will not know the elbow-to-elbow, tight-jammed intimacy of being in the crowd. You will not feel the chaos and confusion that surrounds a high-security event involving scores of national dignitaries and celebrities. You will miss out on the opportunity -- the very unique and special opportunity -- that the inauguration affords to feel ordinary.

In DC, you will encounter hundreds of vendors selling t-shirts, hats, blankets, scarves, buttons, mittens, cups, coins, and even condoms commemorating the president. You will wonder if history is just one big commercial enterprise, and if the rampant capitalism -- official and unofficial -- that rocks the streets is somehow cheapening the significance of the moment.
And then one t-shirt will catch your eye, and it will all make sense. In 2009, the t-shirt was an "unofficial" Obama souvenir silk-screened and sold by two business partners from Maryland. The shirt was white with black silk-screen. It depicted Obama's face in the foreground and the White House in the back. The lettering stated the simple reason why we were all here: "Back in the House we built." The message was abundantly clear: African descendents built the White House; now, one of their own lived in it."

You might not think that race matters when it comes to electing a president. The t-shirt made it clear to me that race is the issue all along.