I realized I was becoming the stereotypical Washington D.C. bureaucrat when I bluntly told tourists on the escalator to the Union Station food court (which also goes down to the Metro station underneath it) that in this city we stand on the right and walk on the left of our escalators. They let me through, and I hope that they learned that lesson for the duration of their stay. Some people have gone so far as to shove people standing on the left, and I hope I do not stoop to that level.
Nevertheless there is a degree of tension between tourists and commuters on the Metro. As someone who is a native of inside the Beltway, and has worked in DC three times, I can confirm that locals can tell who the tourists are. They stick out like a sore thumb.
They are dressed in casual clothes, t-shirts and other short-sleeved attire, sometimes with caps, and short shorts and sunglasses. They look like people who are there to enjoy themselves, in other words, and not people who are there to make a wage, who are dressed in suits and other business wear. I often go for a more modest look with a polo shirt tucked in, as do several others, but it is still far different than that of a visitor.
Tourists are louder and often have pronounced accents; Southern accents are the most noticeable, compared to the comparatively Northern sound of the accents of the suburbs and of DC proper (which is very distinct from those of Northern Virginia and Maryland; the DC accent itself is mostly among the city’s native African-American community). And perhaps the most insulting part, however unintentional I know it is, is that they are excited. To them this city is something brand new, exotic even. To us locals it feels like a mockery, for we are the ones running the country in government and lobbyist office buildings (the latter in my case) doing the grunt work that keeps the nation together. It is tedious, so we don’t exactly look forward to it, but we do it to make a living.
We are the bureaucrats who are forever unsung and forever looked down upon. We run the agencies and keep the relationships between constituents and government services, and between departments and politicians, and between Washington and the rest of the country, in good hands. We are the ones who keep the federal government running smoothly and the ones who run the city itself. And we are never remembered, except when we fail, so we cling to the little power we have on the escalators.