Power Hungry Interns
As part of my D.C. experience, I attended a few summer BBQs and even an old-fashioned Kegger. At first the people seemed amicable and only interested in relaxing over a burger and a beer. Pushing aside the veil of cheerfulness revealed that these interns are not only here to party, they are here to network.
I spoke at length with a really wonderful girl who just graduated from Duke Univeristy with a Masters Degree in Environmental Policy (or something similar). She is convinced that in 10 years she'll be running the EPA and saving the world. Seriously. I can almost forgive her because she's from southern California and probably has ex-hippies for parents.
Another interesting character at one BBQ told me how he was working for the Senate Armed Forces Committee. I tried to press and get some info about what kind of policy decisions he has affected, but all I got was a diatribe about how he is in graduate school working on a degree in International Relations. [Sidenote: I did not know such a degree even existed, but I'm basically living a life of international relations in my current job, so I think I could pretty much breeze through such a program as a fallback career.]
Later on, at a separate party, I was accidentally talking to a few people who had graduated law school. Luckily, they decided not to take the bar exam so I felt much better about them. One girl works for The Truth Campaign. The other is a patent associate and works at the US Patent Office.
A plethora of less memorable characters were also present at the parties. Stereotypes were wandering about everywhere, typified by the Ÿber-tan German guy with high blond hair and piercing blue eyes. He was accompanied by Jewish, Italian, and Rich-bitch stereotypes. Don't hate them because they're beautiful, buffed, waxed, and polished.
I did meet one unique girl who is working as an elementary school teacher, which in this crowd made her stick out, but not as much as me. Being from out-of-town was no big deal, but my zero-relevance to anything involving the D.C. experience was both an instant novelty and brief distraction. It's really a exasperating to have someone say, "oh, you've got a real job that's actually doing something productive for society" and then just float softly back into a dream of limitless political power and corporate influence.
Initial reflections on meeting this odd slice of the D.C. community, which is quite different from my daily experience in academia, gave me a feeling of self-satisfaction. Most people told me how important they thought my work was and how their own contributions to society were so much weaker. Later I realized that ego-stroking is a skill you must quickly develop to succeed in Washington and these kids are true professionals.
