r/washingtondc

Saw the fireworks from the Iwo Jima memorial last night and getting out of there was terrifying. Somehow, with a fireworks show ending at 12:40, they only ran the trains until ~2am. We were lucky to be in the front 1/3 of the crowd leaving. Thousands were probably trapped in the city for a good while after we finally made it out on the second to last train of the night.

Entrance to Rossyln station filled up and quickly started boiling with heat. Was probably 90+ degrees in there. Police were filtering people in through a gate small groups at a time to keep the platform from filling flooding with bodies. A few folks were screaming at the officers to let them out and one guy tried shoving the gate open when he got cut off from the rest of his group. Two or three people passed out from the heat and we had to part the crowd for medics and stretchers.

Handful of hysterics in the group and a lot of folks showed their true colors. One guy nearby emptied his ice chest and started handing out water bottles after the first person passed out. We tried talking to everyone around us to cement our group as friends instead of competition, which mostly worked, but there was one guy who refused to engage with us. During one of the surges when the gate opened, my wife and I had our arms linked together so we wouldn't lose each other in the crowd and he kept trying to force himself between our arms so he could jump ahead.

Another time, shouting police officers at the front told us to all take steps back because folks at the front were getting crushed. With almost everyone slowly shuffling back, a few people saw it as their chance to get ahead and aggressively pushed through to the front. Ashamed to admit my father in law was one of those. When he finally got through the gate into a much more open area, he abandoned us instead of waiting 5 or so minutes for the rest of our group to get through. Karma struck beautifully, though. He didn't know his way around the metro and got on a line going the wrong direction. Realized his mistake 5 stops later. When he got off, the last line had already departed and there was no way for him to reverse. Had to wait a very long time for an Uber.

I’m done with fireworks for a while. Maybe for a few years we could do a drone show. Let some students design something fun or make it a day of service. This loudness and pollution is just getting old for this old soul.