Fear and loathing with EA Mythic in Fairfax
The first thing I noticed as the car pulled up to the hotel was the 25-foot tall inflatable McGruff the Crime Dog. That was a bit unsettling. As I looked around to see if Woodsy Owl or Smokey the Bear had made the trip, I realized the parking lot contained around 50 police cruisers from various jurisdictions. Smokey had indeed come along.
Getting a bit of a flashback, I said to myself, "Self, this is probably how Hunter felt in Vegas." I walked through the hotel doors and the scene became even more surreal. Sixty-plus kids around 13-14 years old were milling about the lobby along with an almost equal number of cops. I felt like I just walked into a casting call for To Catch a Predator. Curious as to what the hell was going on, I sauntered over to the hotel's events calendar and saw the following:
"Annual Crime Prevention Association Annual Convention"
I felt much safer knowing that there is a group who meets once a year and are also dedicated to stopping crime once a year. Underneath that was this entry:
"Some Middle School field trip to DC"
I decided to lay low in the hotel lounge until it closed at 11pm, at which time I briefly entertained the thought of heading to a convenience store and grabbing a 12-pack and bringing back to the hotel. After deciding that might entail more effort than I was prepared to expend at the moment, I weaved my way to the elevators and up I went.
As I exited the elevator, I realized what a good decision I had made in nixing the beer. Staring directly at me like I had just shot her in back of the head with a spit wad sat a grizzled veteran of a thousand Labor Days. The middle school had posted chaperon sentries at both ends of the hallway. I know in my heart and liver if I came out of that elevator with a 12-pack of Amstel Light, that vigilant harpy would have screeched an alarm and within seconds I would be wearing 50 pairs of handcuffs.
With my luck they would all start admiring the shape of my skull. While holding police batons.