Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Go Ahead And Smile

I'm at the coffee house around the corner from my apartment (where Marcus and Aaron are currently napping after our long morning at the Washington Monument), sipping a vanilla chai latte and watching ABC's continuing coverage of today's inauguration festivities.

This whole weekend has been pretty amazing. And that's not lost on the people covering it. Every anchor that I've seen today has had a little bit of a smile on the lips, a glint in the eyes. It's warming and refreshing, given that journalists are usually seen as stoic, stone-faced and sometimes detached.

Aaron cheered at one point this morning (I can't remember why) and Marcus nudged him, teasing, "Come on, journalist. Be objective." We laughed. But I'm sure somewhere, someone is allowing the idea of objectivity to dictate the expression on their face. And the nudging isn't coming from a playful friend, but from a stern voice inside the head.

I think today is one of those days where it's okay to feel. The one thing I noticed, as we made our way from Columbia Height, down the Metro's Green Line, through Chinatown and on the trek down to the National Mall, is that goodness was oozing out of everyone. (Even out of the street vendor selling Obama hand puppets.) And when you're around such optimism, such comradery, it's pretty darn difficult to tell yourself not to cheer.

Besides, when you see that there's a bright, feel-good mood in the air and you share that with your audience, you're still being objective.

So go ahead, smile. Today is one of those days where it's totally okay.
continue...

Posted by Veronica Marché at 3:14 PM | link

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