Graduation Again

Yesterday was another Commencement, so another afternoon of "hurry up and wait," almost entirely in the sun. You may recall from this post (click the link) that last time I was a line marshal and got to walk with the faculty members in the processional. This time I was scheduled to be an inside usher (upside: it's inside, and there's no walking involved; downside: it's a completely pointless job), but with such a small number of graduates coming, they didn't even need to use the seating area I was supposed to "ush." Thus, I was reassigned to be the photographer and take pictures to use for future line marshal trainings.

Since I was supposed to take pictures of all the other line marshals and ushers, I actually had to run around in the sun much more than I would have if I'd been a line marshal. I was quite tired and thirsty and spent a few minutes trying to figure out if I were more likely to pass out or throw up. (Neither happened.)

I had a couple of run-ins with security, which made things more exciting. When I saw the processional starting to come up the ramps, I positioned myself to take pictures of both sides. All the cop saw was this girl with a camera standing in the middle of the walkway. He came up to me and said, "Hi." This is never a good thing. He asked who I was with, and when I told him, he didn't bother me anymore, but I think he was disappointed that he didn't get to tell me to scram. The second run-in was inside with one of the security guards for the Church who come any time a general authority is present. I was standing in the tunnel, taking pictures of the end of the processional, when the dignitaries approached. The security guard came over and told me, "We need to clear this area." I didn't think by "we," he meant, "he and I," so I left him to it and went to my seat, having completed my assignment.