OK folks, the title should give this away - as does the picture. Ken & Christie, if your reading this, the Segway was AWESOME!!! I so want one so bad. But I'm having a super hard time justifying it. Although I do owe Steve a "good" birthday present and a Father's Day gift..........hhmmmmm, must ponder this a bit. LOL Anyway, here's my day in a nutshell, its late again and I have to get up early as our time in DC is coming to a close.
Got up late, left the hotel by 12:40. Got to West Falls Church by 1 into town and Old Post Office, which by now is becoming like a 2nd home, ate and made our way into the Smithsonian Museum of Art. So as we are being bag checked the guard tells me apologetically that I have to chec my packpack and tripod. I said no problem, in fact, its better for me. So I go to check it in and the guard there tells me that I can't leave anything electronic in there. OK I say grabbing my flash, close-up lens and off I go. I stand in the rotunda taking a picture while Megan tells me that it is a copy of the Pantheon in Rome. She should know, last year she went on the tour that went to the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and the Coliseum while we went to the Sistene Chapel. Poor me! ROTFL. Anyway, we proceed into the first chamber where I go about 1/2 into the 3rd room when a guard basically accosts me and VERY RUDELY TELLS ME THAT I CANNOT TAKE FLASH PICTURES. I tell him excuse me? I was told that I could. Then he proceeds to very loudly proclaim that my flash is a professional flash and that I have to remove it. I tried to explain to the guard - very nicely mind you - that I was forced to bring it with me and that they guard up front told me I didn't have a problem with it. He proceeds to embarrass the heck out of me by "speaking rather loudly" and by now everyone in the gallery is looking at me like I did something wrong - WRONG THING TO DO TO ME! I either react one of 2 ways, I get fighting mad and spit back (not literally of course) or I curl up in a ball until I get upset at myself. I tried to again explain to the guy I wasn't a professional but he was having no part of it. He chastises me like I should know better and continues to accuse me of being a professional and explains that he doesn't care what I do but that any flash mounted onto the camera is considered professional and must be removed. By now, EVERYONE has turned around and I felt like they were pointing fingers at me so I turned tail and ran. But not before I grabbed a look at his name badge. I go back to the check-in desk and now I'm fuming. Folks, when I get mad and I can't respond with words, I cry. I was so pissed that I started crying - I know - a big baby, the guard at the desk asked me what was wrong. I told him and he got indignant for me. He then proceeds to call the security supervisor and to make a long story short, both the supervisor and the guard at the check-in desk said they had never heard of this and that any flash is the same as a flash mounted on the camera. The only thing they could not allow was a tripod which I understand. So the supervisor said I could continue. When he asked me if I caught the name of the guard that mistreated me, I gave it to him and he said, I knew it I had a feeling it might be him.
OK so it seems that this guard may have been giving others a hard time. So, I had the supervisor walk me over to the Leanardo Da Vinci Picture which is supposed to be the only Da Vinci picture outside of Europe. I have a picture of it (with flash of course! :-) ) . So I proceed along my merry way. I did notice however that I was constantly being followed - at first I thought it was my imagination but then Megan noticed it too. I understand where they think I might be a professional but folks, I had the audio tour headpiece - I wouldn't be that blatent. Besides, there were other folks out there - specifically a whole tour of Japenese tourists with cameras JUST AS BIG AS MINE and we didn't see them being followed. By the end of the museum, I was looking at it as a game counting the seconds before I was tailed. It was actually funny by then. Here they think I'm going to make or take something and they let the little kid whose father was taking a picture of Daniel in the Lion's Den touch the frame. Megan did notice that one guard told a lady that got too close to back off. When she tried to explain that she just wanted to see the back of the frame, he rudely told her to go home, bring it up on the computer and look at the back of the picture. Then, she said that as I was standing at the Daniel picture, the same guard that accosted me came up to me and several times looked like he wanted to say something to me but backed off when she looked at him. Seems the supervisor must of talked to him.
See folks, this is why Steve says that I'm difficult. Things like this happen to me a lot. I don't go looking for trouble but if I know that I'm in the right and especially if I've followed the rules, I don't let it go. The old adage of speak softly and carry a big stick? Yeah, well, I am at my most dangerous when I get quiet or embarrassed. So this time, while they weren't crocidille tears, they did help my situation.
After this museum, we hightailed it to the Museum of Air and Space to kill 1 hr.
I will continue this on anther blog so it isn't so long as some others I've made.
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