No Seat Left Behind

Yesterday was September 12th. While tens of thousands of self-styled “Tea Party Patriots” marched on Washington to protest out of control spending, President Barack Obama travelled to Minnesota to rally supporters of his health care agenda. I was one of few dissidents in attendance at the rally. The experience was truly remarkable, although not for reasons its organizers intended.

To avoid parking and traffic, I opted to take the light rail into downtown Minneapolis. The end of the line is one block from the Target Center, which is where the rally was being held. When I and other rally-goers disembarked, we were herded by rally volunteers down the sidewalk in the opposite direction from the Target Center. A line of thousands snaked throughout downtown in a seemingly arbitrary manner for many blocks. I spent about an hour waiting in the line outside. One would think, once inside the venue, once past security, the waiting and herding would be over. One would be wrong.

Once inside the Target Center, we were directed to the second level where we found sections of the arena barred by curtains and volunteers. Groups of attendees waited in disorganized lines which blended haphazardly with lines to restrooms, concession stands, and adjoining sections. There was no apparent rhyme or reason to the proceedings, and I speculate much of the traffic throughout the corridors consisted of confused parties, like myself, who were attempting to make sense of why they could not immediately take a seat. Indeed, peaks through curtains revealed an extensive amount of seating available, yet volunteers were under orders from event organizers not to grant access to sections until authorized. This resulted in hundreds of people huddled around these curtained off sections vying for an opportunity to scramble for a seat when unbarred. Multiple times, I found myself waiting to enter a section for several minutes, only to find I was too far back in the line when access was finally granted. The section would fill, at which time no direction was given where to go next, and any priority gained from having waited in line was lost.

When I finally got a decent look inside the arena, I understood what was happening. The event organizers were seating people section by section, making sure each section was full before granting access to the next. I imagine the purpose was to create the appearance of a full house. In the event the house was not full, television cameras would still be able to pan around the forcibly filled sections and convey an impression of a packed arena. There is no other reason I can think of for intentionally bottlenecking traffic. There was no security purpose, as everyone inside had been screened. There was no more apparent reason for controlling traffic than if the event were a basketball game.

It occurred to me, as I waited longer inside the venue to get a seat than I had waited outside to get in, this entire experience stood as a perfect metaphor representing the very health care system Obama was there to promote. Here was an event open to the public, free of charge, which attracted enormous demand and provided seemingly inexplicable barriers to access which did not serve the interest of those attending. Presumably, during any other event, patrons of the Target Center would be free to roam the arena and corridors as they saw fit, take their seats at their leisure (albeit assigned by ticket), and be none the worse for lack of wear. Yet, in this case, we were barred from obtaining that which we sought for reasons that added no value to our experience and served only the interest of those in charge. Gee, what does that sound like? The irony was utterly lost on the overwhelmingly pro-Obama crowd.

Despite not making the connection between their experience and their beloved health care agenda, it was clear attendees did not like the way they were being treated. Those around me no doubt arrived around the same time. It took roughly an hour to get inside the Target Center. An hour and a half later, thirty minutes prior to President Obama's scheduled start time, many of us were still not seated. Once the second level sections of the arena were filled. We were advised to proceed to the third level. Yet each of the stairwells was blocked by volunteers pointing the crowd to escalators which, as it turned out, were not even running. Why the broad and numerous stairwells were out of service and literally thousands of people were expected to funnel up narrow escalators is beyond my comprehension. Eventually, access to the stairwells was granted, indicating whatever reason may have justified barring them in the first place was arbitrary. Once the crowds reached the third level they found more curtains and volunteers blocking their way. For many, having stood in line for two and a half hours at this point, this was the last straw. Civility began to break down as angry attendees verbally assailed hapless volunteers demanding access to seating. At one section, there was a small altercation as some attendees began to push past volunteers in revolt. Attending Minneapolis police officers were bombarded with complaints, their badges attracting discontent like lighting rods. One officer was overheard telling an attendee, "What do you want me to do? Write down you're sad and hand it to somebody?" It was bedlam.

I found myself tempted to shout out, This is what your health care will look like! This is what you are here to support! Long lines, barriers to access, nonsensical bureaucracy, incompetent administration, and no recourse for grievance! Alas, having come so far and endured so much, I was intent to make it to my seat intact. Still, I wished each one of my increasingly discontent fellows could be hauled aside, shook by the shoulders, and have the ironies spoon fed. What we experienced was orderly, yet intolerable. What happens at a basketball game is seemingly random, but takes on the natural order which individual intent and unbridled access tend to promote. The liberty to move about as one wishes, entrusting each individual with the responsibility to find their assigned seat, respectfully assuming they have the competence to either figure things out or solicit help as needed, is more efficient than the constraints these rally attendees endured. As it is in a sporting arena, so it is everywhere else. The tumultuous sea will always take one further than calm. Sadly, I doubt many attendees would concede that point.

More on the content of the rally, and the character of its attendees, in this week's episode of the Fightin Words podcast, publishing tomorrow.