Wednesday, March 19, 2008

DC and Two Cents More

After three days in Washington, DC, we've returned to Philadelphia. My parents are visiting and I was happy to be their uneducated tour guide in DC. For the first time, I went to the top of the Washington Monument and visited Mount Vernon. Along with those highlights, we did the Tour Mobile. I am a huge fan of the tour bus and narrator.
The Washington, DC Metro is fantastic. I love it. If you ever travel there, use it. It is clean, safe, easy to understand, and everywhere.

Now that I have gotten the facts out of the way, it is time for the commentary on teenage tourism in DC.

We were taking in Washington along with thousands of students, ranging in age from 12 to 18. When I was that age, I took two trips with a large group, one to Atlanta and one to Vancouver. I am sure that I was obnoxious and rude to people along with my friends. I think I might even have pictures of it. I am sure that we thought we were clever, creative, and of course, unique in every way.

After spending two days with just this type of teenager, I know we were probably just annoying. Without argument, I admit that we were abrasive and awkward in almost every way, but I doubt that were rude. It seems that it was a rare teenager in DC that would step aside for my parents on a sidewalk or say "excuse me" when they refused to move out of the way. We were always the one to step aside or say "excuse me". Along with this, there were even a few that were talking during the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

I gave them the stink eye of judgement.

I have a feeling that it wouldn't be this way if they were with their parents instead of the mob of horomones in hooded sweatshirts. They were all too busy being clever, creative, and of course, unique in every way.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sara, I hate to say it, but on our many trips to Disney the 12-18 y/o crowd is just as irritating and the worst part of it all is their parents just stand there and watch them!!! Maybe its because the parents want to be on vacation from their kids, but I have been known to give a stink eye to the kids AND their parents!!! Allison

Mrs. T said...

I just took 15 teenagers to Spain last summer and did a lot of preventative medicine before we left- hopefully avoiding this kind of behavior. Bad enough to be the "ugly American", but to be the obnoxious teenager, too? Yikes.