Yarn Tails: Sit Back And Wait

4.28.2007

Sit Back And Wait

I knew getting onto the Pepperdine campus for graduation was going to be a hassle. Laura Bush was the guest speaker, so the Secret Service and CHP were involved with crowd management, traffic and parking. You know that old saying about too many cooks? Goes for police agencies too. Dick and I had already decided to just sit back, relax, enjoy the day, and take the inevitable delays in stride. It's a gorgeous campus, so enjoying the scenery wasn't a hardship.

Graduation was at 10:30; I wanted to be on campus by 9:45 but knew that was probably unrealistic given how difficult it is to get all of us up and moving in the morning. We actually made it by 10:00 . . . just in time to get a ringside seat for Mrs. Bush's arrival. We were second in line to make the turn onto campus when traffic in every direction was stopped and oncoming cars were blocking by a police unit. Dick and I were pretty sure we knew what was happening (he's been there, done that), so I had my camera ready. The entourage drove around us in opposing traffic lanes, and turned onto campus directly beside us. I missed the shot (eww) of the two Secret Service guys in the back of one of the escort cars, with the tailgate open and guns at the ready, facing Mrs. Bush's vehicle. In less than a minute, it was over and everything was back to normal. Or as normal as it can be when you're trying to get thousands of people into one place.

Pepperdine handled the crowds better than I expected. They had numerous shuttle buses running from the parking areas and had an overflow venue set up for those who couldn't get into the main graduation area. We didn't even try for the main area, just headed straight to the Smothers Theatre as 'overflow'. Great decision. We had comfortable seats, air conditioning (it was pretty hot out in the sun, especially for the grads), and watched the entire event on a big screen. Sweet.