DC is Overrun

IT'S TOURIST SEASON ONCE MORE

I know.  It terrifies me too

Tourist season in really anywhere of interest is a thing to be dreaded.  Here in DC, it is a nightmare, and one I wish I didn't get to experience while I am still hobbling about on crutches.  Also hence why I am still dragging multiple crutches around the city, even though I technically only need one of them.  Crutches say "I'm injured and you'll be an asshole and society will judge you if you try anything stupid."  It just makes moving around a little easier for me.

All this started with a bunch of trees.

Tourist season always kicks off with the cherry blossoms.  And granted, they are gorgeous.  Walking through a grove of cherry blossoms is like walking into a fairytale.  

Unfortunately, we who live here don't get to see this:

We see this:

They are EVERYWHERE!

There are strollers and families in matching clothes.  There are school kids running amok while frazzled teachers struggle to contain them long enough to figure out if they read their maps correctly.  The lines for food are absolutely ridiculous because everyone assumes that everyone else is also on vacation and so won't mind waiting while they dither about this or that.

And not a soul realizes that here in DC, you never ever stand on the left side of the escalators.

Don't worry. We'll get used to that struggle in another month or so

To make things more fun, I'm still a bit mobile-impaired.  It's been about three weeks or so since I broke my toe in decidedly un-spectacular fashion, but it's not long enough that I can leave my crutches at home.  Try navigating the streets and the metro on crutches in DC.

Try navigating them during tourist season.

Quite literally, people feel personally victimized by my inability to walk.  I have to go through the handicap metro turnstile because my crutches will not fit in a regular one.  People feel like they need to run faster to beat me there, because clearly the only open turnstile is the handicap one - there clearly isn't another five right next to it, nope, those are unusable apparently.

And I have heard annoyed sighs because they were polite and let the girl on crutches go through first.  Some lady even had the gall to tap her foot at me.

Sorry lady, one can only move so fast on crutches

The same thing happens on the streets, though that is a bit easier.  At least streetside, there is room for people to go around me if they really feel the need to do so.  But then you get the lost tourists pooling on the street corners and blocking the way forward, milling about as they check maps and phones and count heads to make sure they didn't lose anyone.  It's like walking through molasses - you kinda have to get outta the way of the girl on crutches because the poor thing is on crutches and you aren't a terrible human being, but you don't want to move so you do so slowly.

Because everyone is on vacation.  It's not like that girl on crutches has to get to work or something.  

Thus, I am hiding away in my office with my crutches propped out of the way.  It is tourist season, after all.  They mean no harm, but less I have to deal with them, the happier I'll be.