Me and the Newseum

There are 45 words in the First Amendment establishing freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition etched upon 50 tons of Tennessee marble covering the front of the Newseum. As D.C.'s most interactive museum, the Newseum creatively showcases these freedoms along with 35,000 historic newspaper front pages, 15 Theaters, 14 major galleries, 8 sections of the Berlin Wall, and more. Yes, this sounds like a pitch, and it may be, but yesterday, I pioneered my role as Newseum Volunteer, and with that new position comes my renewed appreciation and admiration for journalist. 

Although the wide legged khakis, green figureless polo, and windbreaker stand in my way each Monday and Friday from now on, yesterday's four and a half hour volunteer shift in the different galleries truly makes the uniform worth the stares in Starbucks, the snickers from my brother, and a few embarrassing pictures my mom.

For the first two hours, i followed Janet around. Known to fellow visitor service representatives as Miss Newseum, she showed me the different positions I will eventually take during my volunteer shifts. Janet dove right in to tell me she has some pet peeves. The first, untied shoelaces. I carefully gazed down at mine just to make sure i wasn't offending her. Some other ones? Smelly trash cans, dirty bathrooms, loose railings, blocked doors, chewed gum, volunteers who just stood there, and crooked signs, just to name a few.

 "I'm 55, so I'm pretty set in my ways and I do what I want...and if my boss is happy, then I'm going to keep on doing what I want," Janet said. She also decided to sing her Newseum song to me in the middle of the tour. . . there were three verses to the melody of Take Me Out to the Ball Game. After the two hours were up, Janet went to lunch, while I was left for another two and a half hours to wander and "get my feet wet" as a volunteer (as the Lead Coordinator told me) I wasn't quite sure what that meant, but I think I did pretty well. I told a little girl where the bathrooms were, I showed a woman where the 9/11 gallery was, and explained the progression of the News History gallery. 

I'm looking forward to the stories I will hear and learn while volunteering and sharing those experiences with others. And as far as the outfit goes? I guess it's the price I must pay.