dead white guy

I almost saw my first corpse yesterday. Unfortunately, William Rehnquist's casket was closed. Had I know that in advance, I might not have spent an hour in the hot sun eating ice cream, eavesdropping, and chatting with coworker-housemate M.

We went for the spectacle. I didn't have to work yesterday afternoon & there isn't much to do on a Tuesday afternoon in this town, except study Serbian. Besides, the Supreme Court's within walking distance. And I thought it would be open casket. William Rehnquist was to be my first corpse. It would make a good story. Also, the catafalque on which his casket was set also supported the dead bodies of Lincoln, Kennedy, and a host of other now-dead luminaries. That's kind of cool.

The other people in line had more honorable reasons for waiting. The man in front of us drove down from Philadelphia because he "really respected Rehnquist's judicial philosophy." I wanted to punch him.

I was interviewed by a young woman from some sort of media outlet (I forgot to ask which) - she had a big fancy microphone and recorder. So if you heard someone with my voice say "I came for the spectacle & didn't really like Rehnquist very much & have my doubts about Roberts," it was probably me.