We are walking back from the Inauguration.  The almost 2 million people who had gathered over the course of at least six hours (some may have spent the night prior) were now all exiting at the same time.  Our path was from close to the Washington Monument to the opposite side of the Capitol Building.  As the roads running parallel to the Mall were closed to foot traffic, our path became a labyrinth of turns and guesses as to which roads would most easily get us through the crowds to our destination.

As we entered one intersection, it first appeared people were moving the same direction.  Suddenly we were being strongly pressed from behind.  I was not sure we would make it straight across the intersection, yet surveying which direction to go brought the realization that folks were coming from and pressing from all four directions and turning back was not an option.  We were not walking as much as alternating between incredibly packed stagnation and barely sliding between folks who were moving in all directions.  Trying not to lose each other, Becky, Gina, Leah and I (we had already lost my brother and sister in law and a cousin in the crowd) held on as the crowd got tighter and tighter.

Thoughts of rock concert crowd disasters began flowing through my mind and I found myself being sure my feet were as squarely planted as possible.  I think it took us about twenty minutes to move from one side of the intersection to the other, most of that time spent saying and hearing from others, "I'm sorry...excuse me...I can't stop from being pushed..."  Becky said the one redeeming aspect of the crush was all those close bodies made us warm for the first time in hours.

And somehow, all in the intersection made their way and no one was hurt.  What was also being said spontaneously by many was, "OK, folks, we can do this."  "All right, everyone just be calm, we can all get there..." and other comments.  Here we were, perfect strangers heading in different directions while occupying the same space, working to make it happen.   A metaphor for the days, weeks and years ahead as a nation, as a people of this planet.  We have many different paths and directions, many different destinations, and we are all traveling together, we are all occupying the same space.  I marveled at how the crowd worked amid many moments that were more than a bit frightening.  There was in us the inherent ability to get through, the innate ability to reassure while making efforts to solve the puzzle in which we were entangled.

We all made it, and no one was hurt.

Todd Donatelli