election

Met some very nice locals. Things I learned:

They sure brought in a lot of police for this thing. The horses are very beautiful. We all agreed that the dappled gray horse at the front is the most beautiful of the horses. “There are a lot more cops and a lot more suits. You never see this many suits.”

The police put all the homeless people on buses a few weeks ago, took them out of Uptown in anticipation of the convention. Deposited them somewhere else.

“Uptown, pfft,” says an old-timer. “You’re just trying to be fancy.” Apparently the neighborhood name is of relatively recent vintage.

They estimate that the ratio of cops to protestors is about 2:1. Had no particular dog in this fight. Mildly inconvenienced in terms of getting home, but also entertained, happy to just stand around and take pictures for a bit. “It’s a good thing the police don’t mind pictures, because I’ve just been clicking away.”

“Ha ha, I work for Citi,” said the taller one upon seeing the protestors carrying a sign with a crossed-out Citi logo. Her tone was a shrug.

Charlotte was a bit scruffier until a little bit ago. That little park they built down there, down the block, would they have done that unless the convention was coming to town? No way. Also: that bike sharing program? A slight roll of the eyes for that.

The media people are not nice. They’re rushed and rude and don’t know how to say the names of the streets. It’s “TRY-on,” not “TY-ron.” They also think that Charlotte people are stupid, the media people do. I flashed my media badge and apologized on behalf of media people.

They said that I am much nicer than the other media people they’ve met. I blushed a little. The protest passed and we all wished each other well, said goodbye.

—Tag