Introducing: Outside Looking In

Telling Time, Vacation, and the Nationals

So, what I really wanted to do today was go catch the matinee showing of Ted but for some reason the thought of watching Marky Mark pal around with a mythical talking bear eerily reminded me of Washington, DC. I don’t live in DC but I have many good friends that have moved there throughout the years. Some I still hear from often, while others seemed to have gotten sucked into some sort a Beltway vacuum. Regardless, of whether I hear from them or not, I do have a few questions regarding DC life that I hope can be explained.

Question 1. Why is time measured in distance to DC—specifically the distance between Metro stops? It has been my experience that if someone is running late for a meeting or conference call, the response I get is “I’m two stops away.” Or, if on the phone, I get the statement “about to get on the Metro will call you back in three stops.” Why not just say, “Hey, I’m fifteen minutes away?” I have no idea how long it takes to travel from Metro stop to Metro stop. The closest train stop for me is in Macon, Georgia, so I might as well say, “I will call you next week”.

Question 2. Once you move to DC, do you ever take a vacation, or do you just spend time out of the District? This one really perplexes me. For years I have witnessed countless folks from DC make their way out of the city only to inform everyone what they have to do once they get back to DC. Why do this? Example: We are at a ski resort drinking some vodka, with a name I can’t pronounce, from the ear of a bunny ice sculpture—does it really matter if they are done with construction at Dupont Circle? For what it is worth, Cleveland Park to Dupont on the red line takes about 15 minutes (see question 1).

Question 3. What makes everyone an automatic Nationals fan– or should I say Natinals? (Ask Ryan Zimmerman about the spelling—he’s your third baseman and actually really good.) How is it that all of a sudden Facebook is filled with pictures of Nationals Park, when I know that a year ago you were at Wrigley? They were the freaking Expos! The EXPOS!

I actually really love DC—great food, great people, and awesome sites to see. I look forward to getting some of these questions answered. In the meantime, you can find me on twitter @GunnerHall .

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A misplaced Yankee currently living in Savannah, GA, Gunner that has over a decade of professional campaign work ranging from U.S. Senate candidates to small city council races. He was a political commentator during the 2008 election cycle for WBMQ radio station. In 2009 he was named one of Savannah/Hilton Head’s “Top 40 under 40” by the Savannah Business Report and Journal. He has also been voted “Best Liberal of Savannah” by the readers of The Connect (Savannah’s alternative newspaper). Also, an avid outdoorsman, Gunner enjoys killing animals that cannot defend themselves and then eating them. He prefers charcoal over gas grills when completing this task. To date his most important accomplishment has been rescuing a beagle named Truman. Twitter: @GunnerHall

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