A World at War [pinit]

This view from above shows a world at war – at least in aviation history. This is a wide view of the World War II aviation exhibit at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum just outside of Washington, D.C. I love this place, even if they hate my tripod. Why am I thinking about war in this post? Mostly because I’m listening to election results on the TV and they keep talking about battleground states. As I write this, I have no idea who is going to win the Presidency. However, I have one request for the winner.  Please tell the Air & Space museum to stop hassling photographers who use tripods.

The Smithsonian has wonderful museums, but they don’t seem to have consistent policies about tripods. This is clearly a sign of a divided nation and Washington’s inability to work together. No tripods at the Udvar-Hazy center (and they were initially skeptical about my Magic Arm & Superclamp), but no problems using my tripod at the Natural History Museum. It’s a shanda!

As many of us in the states wake up on Wednesday and look at the election results, try not to get too excited. It seems very clear that half of us disagree with the other half. So if your side won, don’t gloat. If your side lost, accept it gracefully. The world will not stop spinning. Personally, I’m hoping that a modicum of civility will take over, but I’m not holding my breath. Too many folks think that the way to engage in political discussion is to berate and insult anyone who disagrees with you. Please try to remember that there are far more important topics before us where we can unite as one – like the ability to take a tripod into a museum.