Living In Washington DC - III

Today is the last day of a four day weekend. That’s right, this New Years has been a four day weekend….its part of what can happen when you live in Washington DC. From time to time we get an extra holiday or two. For example four of the five years while living here I have also had the “IMF Holiday” (IMF = International Monetary Fund).

Like all businesses we can close for inclement weather. When the Federal Government closes due to whether, we close. Here, three or four inches of snow overnight has been known to close the Feds down, but not always. Five inches overnight, closure is almost guaranteed….eight or nine inches we could be closed for two days. We are far enough north to have snow handling capabilities but far enough south that abilities to drive in more than three inches the snow and clear it is not honed. A hurricane could close the Feds and our office down for a day or two, but in that situation many of us are still working when the office is closed. Yet these are not the holidays to which I am referring.

Another reason we could close is if the Federal Government closed due to security issues. Those issues tend not to be wide spread and tend to be in pockets and rare. Still once a year our office reviews its evacuation plans. If something happened you have to be aware of alternate routes home because sections of the city or several bridges could be closed. If we are ordered by the government to have a quick evocation, even those in our building from Maryland and NE DC are required to head out towards the beltway via VA routes of I 66, Lee Hwy or north on George Washington Parkway. If you live in Maryland or south along I 95, you are to go out to the beltway and then swing around the city from there…of course the beltway would move at a crawl but the goal is to get the people who work in the heart of the city out from the core, not to get them home. Even schools have evacuation plans, some of which entails where children go in worse case situations when their parents are heading away from their homes and children’s homes. Of course this is not a holiday.

IMF holiday and today are of a different order. These come about because of major events and road closures. For several years large protests were taking place just down the block from us when the IMF directors were meeting at the IMF/World Bank building that is three blocks from us. As the protests cause the closures of roads and our Metro (Subway) station, our office closes.

Today we are closed because of the funeral of President Ford. The Federal Government is closed. Pomp and ceremony takes place in the morning on the Hill and National Cathedral…and our building stands between the two. Hence, road closures brings about an extra day off and a four day weekend. We also are closed when there is a Presidential Inauguration. It is all part of working in and near the heart of Washington DC.

That said, it is not as much fun as it sounds since the work just piles up as everyone else in the division is open.