If you’re a fan of the show “Broad City” you know there was an episode aired recently that depicted one of the main characters, Ilana Wexler, happening upon the Hillary Clinton campaign headquarters in Brooklyn. Ilana not only finds the building upon happenstance, but also immediately picks up a volunteering gig with the campaign, and Clinton even makes a cameo in the episode.

Watching this, I thought to myself, “It must be pretty easy to find and check out the Clinton campaign headquarters. That’s cool, I’ll try to stop by when I make a trip up there in a few weeks.”

So last weekend when I made that trip, my mother and I took time out of our busy day to check it out. I’m not dead-set on Hillary or anything (though I can’t speak for my mother) but it felt monumental to be one of two generations of women going to see the campaign headquarters of the first woman candidate for President.

We looked up the address online, which was surprisingly easy because it’s openly listed on the Brooklyn headquarters’ own Facebook page. We even saw pictures of the inside of the office from an article published by amNY.

We arrived at 1 Pierrepont and were greeted by a very nice doorman who told us that we’d made a common mistake (which, according to him, happens about 30 times a day), and that the correct address was actually 1 Pierrepont Plaza. He directed us 6 blocks north and sent us on our merry way.

When we finally got to the right place, we felt silly having gone to the wrong address first because there were media trucks and cameras on tripods and reporters waiting outside the building, things one would expect to be outside a Presidential campaign headquarters.

We walked through the automatic glass doors into the marble lobby and approached the front desk. That’s where our journey stopped.

The man working the front desk, Angel Velazquez, was extremely cordial in telling us that we were unable to go upstairs and actually see what we travelled so far for (four subway lines and a crowded walk across the Brooklyn Bridge). He said people come all the time, every day, and that although “it would be nice to be able to give people some information,” he’s never been given a forwarding address or even a business card to hand out to visitors.

“I don’t even have a phone number to call upstairs. I just get a list of people everyday who are allowed to go upstairs,” he said, adding that he’d never actually met anyone who worked in the campaign.

So this is as close as I got to Hillary’s campaign headquarters, the lobby of 1 Pierrepont Plaza. My mother and I talked with Angel for quite awhile and he told us that we were some of the nicest people that come through, that most people are outraged.

I wouldn’t say I was angry, just disappointed. Everything I’d seen thus far had given me the impression that the office was somewhat public or at least welcomed people coming by. I didn’t think we’d be able to go in and see Clinton’s personal office or anything, but I didn’t expect to be greeted with absolutely nothing. Pardon my assumption, but Clinton’s appearance on “Broad City” seemed like an implicit endorsement for visitors to come see such a historic establishment.

This is Campaign 100 – Remedial HQ Operations. If the campaign headquarters projects an online appearance that’s welcoming of the public, people are going to go. The doorman at the wrong address said it happens 30 times a day – and that’s just the people who go to the wrong place first.

There could have been so many easy and cost-effective solutions to this problem. A merchandise stand with t-shirts and stickers (“I visited Hill’s Brooklyn HQ!”), a pile of placards with campaign slogans and a stamped signature; I would’ve been satisfied just taking a picture with a cardboard cutout of our first female candidate. These options and more would keep supporters excited and ensure that they walk away with a more or less positive impression of the headquarters and their experience of visiting.

Realistically, I’m sure Hillary has no control over this. It’s most likely the fault of her campaign manager or an assistant. Regardless of who’s to blame, it highlighted a problem of which I think we’re all aware, whether or not we acknowledge it.

This entire election, both Clinton and Trump campaigns, is focused on appearance over all else. What they say on TV, what they tweet, what their Facebook pages pronounce – that’s all that seems to matter.

So take my experience and my realization to heart and do something that not many voting Americans have done yet: read the platforms. Decide whether or not you actually agree with the candidate for whom you plan to vote and if they have been truthful in word of mouth or in media presence. I don’t think you’ll be surprised by what you find, but you just might learn something that will change your mind come November 8.