Excuse me, Mr. Officer

The first time I ever heard about DuPont Circle was in the movie The American President. I'm tempted to digress to tell you about why this is one of my favorite chick flicks, but I'll save you the spoilers so you can watch it yourself, if you have not already seen it.

However, there's a running joke in the movie about the traffic in DuPont Circle. "Just stay away from DuPont Circle. I hear it's murder this time of day." When I first moved to DC, that quote went through my head whenever I was near DuPont, and I quickly learned the movie was not far off from the truth. DuPont Circle is a highly congested area, especially during rush hour.

But, it's also one of the most charming and energetic parts of town. Last night, my roommates and I decided to go to dinner at Lauriol Plaza in DuPont and for some reason, I decided to drive rather than walk the 10 blocks that it is from my office. Big Mistake! I spent 30 minutes driving around looking for parking. Once I finally found a spot, I became incredibly flustered. A man in a big white truck pulled up beside me, trying to convince me I was about to take his spot. Are you kidding? This is my spot. I found it. I'm taking it. That's what I told him and the smile in his eye made me realize he was actually just teasing me, but I wasn't in the mood for jokes.

We had a lovely dinner and we stuffed ourselves full of Lauriol goodness. But, as we walked to my car, I became increasingly nervous because I could not remember where I parked my car. I know that I walked down Riggs so we started there, but an hour and a half later we were still walking and my car was nowhere to be found. My patient roommates were so helpful and encouraging, not complaining at all, even reminding me that at least we got to walk around and see all the beautiful houses (and walk off our dinner too)!

We decided we needed to make a decision on what to do. We could metro home and drive back down to cover more ground faster in a car, but that would take a lot of time. We could hail a taxi and hope we found the car before the fare became too outrageous. Or better yet, we could ask the cop that was driving by. I quickly flagged him down. At first I wasn't sure he was going to help, but after explaining my desperate plight, he told me he had to respond to a call 2 blocks away, but if we waited he would come back and help us.

We laughed on the corner about the whole situation until he returned. I explained more of the details to him and then we all popped in the car, me in the front and my three roommates in the back. My favorite part was when he reported in on his radio: "On the corner of New Hampshire and R. Flagged down by a citizen. Helping to locate vehicle."

That's me - citizen in need.

Thank you Officer Martinez.