That’s what my day yesterday felt like, at least.
In the early afternoon, I went to the Minneapolis Convention Center and caught up with the likes of Cris Carter, Dave Barry, Janet Huckabee, and Cindy McCain. At night I was tear gassed near a protest in Siant Paul. By midnight I was watching Trace Adkins rock out at a Viacom event.
At noon Visa put on an event called Financial Football, and interactive quiz game intended to help young people learn about finance. I don’t know if the game will make me a wiser spender, but I was entertained, especially by the antics of Cris Carter, former wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings and current ESPN analyst. But instead of having Cris analyze football, I had him talk about money and the expense of college.
When leaving the interview, I had another reporter make I contact with me. The look on his face said that he wanted to ask me something. I introduced myself, only to find out that he had no interest what so ever in speaking with me but instead wanted to get a press kit from the Visa guy. Turns out this other reporter was Dave Barry of The Miami Herald, famous comedy writer.
Somehow I over came the awkwardness of our introduction and was able to walk and talk with him back the entrance of the convention center. Once there, I was informed by a woman handing out fliers that Cindy McCain and Laura Bush would be speaking in one of the ballrooms in half an hour. “Really?” I thought. I checked my shoe to see if I had stepped in something.
Mrs. McCain and Mrs. Bush were the guests of World Vision and the One Campaign, along with Sen. Bill Frist and Princess Zulu of Zambia. The event was meant to create awareness about the issues of global AIDS and poverty, and featured speeches by the esteemed guests. After the main program, everyone present was invited to create a humanitarian relief package consisting of items from notebooks to acetaminophen.
I was even lucky enough to speak with Janet Huckabee, Mike Huckabee’s wife, about these issues.
When I left the Convention Center, I made my way to Saint Paul for the Impact Film Festival.
After shooting several videos in and around the Landmark Center in Saint Paul (including one in the background of an MSNBC broadcast), I got word of a protest march a few blocks away. I made my way to Cedar St. in Saint Paul and found myself at the police line.
The police put on gas masks and made a perimeter blocking 7th Street. At about 9pm they set off tear gas canisters down the street from where I set up on Wabasha and 7th. With the cloud of gas coming, several bystanders and I ran up the steps of a local library only to find the door locked. My nose and throat burned a bit but I kept shooting.
About 20 minutes later the police line finally cleared, and I was reunited with the other Street Teamers covering the protest, Nadir Omowale and Charlie Berens.
We made our way back to Minneapolis in time to catch a Trace Adkins concert put on by Viacom. Standing the audience, listening to Trace and his band play “Swing”, I couldn’t help but think about how strange my day was.