Calling from the Inauguration....

One of my co-workers/teacher friends is currently en-route to Washington DC to be at the inauguration of President-elect Obama on Tuesday. Am I jealous of her? YES.

We are trying to arrange for the entire school to watch the swearing-in in their classes, but as we cannot know at one time between 9am and noon (pacific time) that will happen (security reasons) we would basically have to leave our TVs on for several hours; we cannot obviously afford to miss that much class time. As such, we are trying to arrange a way to tape it in the library Tuesday morning, and then have it play over the school system at noon.

However, my friend Anna had the brilliant idea of having our friend, who will be at the actual Inauguration, call us when the actual swearing-in is about to take place, so that we can make an "all-call" to the teachers to turn on their TVs.

We were curious if however, people would even be allowed a cell-phone at the obviously highly-secure event.

As such, I went on the website to see what would be prohibited, I discovered the following:

"As a security precaution, the following items will be prohibited from all Inaugural event sites and locations:

* firearms (either real or simulated)
* ammunition
* explosives of any kind (including fireworks)
* knives, blades, or sharp objects (of any length)
* mace and/or pepper spray
* sticks or poles
* pocket or hand tools, such as "leatherman"
* packages
* backpacks
* large bags
* duffle bags
* suitcases
* weapons of any kind
* aerosols
* supports for signs and placards
* packages
* coolers
* thermoses, thermal or glass containers
* strollers
* umbrellas
* bags exceeding size restrictions (8”x6”x4”)
* laser pointers
* animals other than helper/guide dogs
* structures
* bicycles
* signs and posters
* animals (other than service animals)
* alcoholic beverages
* other items that may pose a threat to the security of the event as determined by
and at the discretion of the security screeners..."


So basically, people will be allowed to wear pants and a shirt; no kids or animals allowed, and don't even think about bringing your purse.