From Yvette:
Tips for Eventers Living in Itty-Bitty Apartments in the City: The Photo ID Edition
Hey there, Eventing Nation! Based on my Facebook feed, I saw that a bunch of you spent your Monday evening following fellow blogger Lauren Nethery’s advice on how to gather more information about your OTTBs. And even though I should have known better, I decided to click over to the Equibase website myself to learn more about the racing past of my dear old Roger Rabbit (the OTTB formerly known as Go Go Boy and newly minted Area II Adult Rider Horse of the Year). All I can say is ”Oh Roger…” Thanks, Lauren, for the good laugh!
Anyway, here in the Nation’s capital, we’re getting ready for the quadrennial inaugural festivus. The Washington Post has been making January 21 weather predictions for the past week (I’m going to take a risk and say that it will be chilly with a chance of rain and fog – the standard DC winter fare), final parade preparations – such as the sealing of manhole covers along Pennsylvania Avenue – are being made, and we locals are doing some last minute jockeying to get on the guest lists of the marquis events and balls. It’s like Times Square on New Year’s Eve…for political nerds (and three weeks late). Having survived a few inaugurations as a DC resident, I have only two things on my mind:
- What will Beyoncé be wearing when she sings the National anthem?
- Is there any chance that she and some members of Congress will don black leotards and lead the crowd in a rousing rendition of “Single Ladies” à la Justin Timberlake on SNL a few years back?
But I digress…
Much like the coveted competitors’ wristbands and grooms’ buttons that grant access to the stabling areas to a lucky few at events such as Rolex and Fair Hill, DC is a town in which an ID badge dangling around your neck is seen as status symbol. We can spot a Beltway Newbie a mile away by the way they twirl their “White House” badge on the Metro (and we’re not surprised to discover that it says “INTERN.”) Just as your library card can’t be used to “check out” a beer at a bar, my USEA membership card won’t get me through checkpoint security on the Mall next Monday – and not only because it’s expired.
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Tip for Eventers Living in Itty-Bitty Apartments in the City #24:
While your USEA membership card may give you “street cred” at horse trials, it does not substitute for government-issued identification that allows you to perform day-to-day activities of normal (read: non-horsey) people, such as driving a car on public roads, navigating airport security, voting for anything other than USEA Board members and bylaws, or purchasing alcoholic beverages. And while you may use your membership to obtain discounts through Bit of Britain and SmartPak, it can’t be used as a credit or debit card, either, so stop putting it in the ATM machine.
