Photo by Valerie Hinojosa on Flickr
When I was a kid, snow days meant sledding down the best hill in the area: Capitol Hill. It was part of the fun of living in this neighborhood. We were a short walk from a huge hill that was protected from traffic, and we had the added benefit of a beautiful view of the National Mall. On those days, that political “Hill” was all ours, full of kids laughing and playing without a care in the world.
And then 9/11 happened and neighborhood kids with sleds were viewed as a security threat. Really?
I miss the days of being able to just walk right into Capitol Rotunda, but I understand the need for tighter security measures. However, I also think it’s time to lift the sledding ban, which does nothing but deny local kids a little joy from a coterie of politicians who deny our District representation and who have left us with locked up playgrounds during government shutdowns as well.
Yes, I’m being a bit dramatic here, but I also think that the crackdown on sledders yesterday was an unnecessary buzzkill for kids looking to have some harmless fun on a snow day.
In 2010, Senator Dodd got a special waiver granted for the Presidents’ Day weekend after he himself was kicked out while sledding with his young daughters during Snowmageddon. What would it take to get the ban lifted permanently?
Surely someone here has some clout to get this rolling. Open use of the Capitol lawn for sledding any time there is more than 4″ of snow. Anyone here have any pull with the AOC or the US Capitol Police?