The Saturday before Christmas, my cousin and his wife from London took a side trip from their vacation in New York to come see us in Maryland. I drove them around the National Mall and we walked around the White House, National Christmas Tree, Washington Monument, and up the Mall almost all the way to the Capitol before heading back and stopping in my favorite museum, the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum, for a cup of hot chocolate and a quick look at the dinosaurs and gemstones (my two favorites, since the giant blue whale isn't back up yet) before heading over to Georgetown for some wandering (I LOVE how all the houses are decorated for Christmas -- all the greenery, red ribbon, and gas lamps make it feel so... 1776), shopping, and dinner.
Somewhere in the museum, I lost my scarf, and we eventually made our way to the security office, where we discovered that no one had turned it in. It was a really nice scarf, but I was ready to cut my losses, when the security guard said to me, "If you'd like to fill out a report, we'll mail it back to you if we find it ... free of charge."
What?! That's awesome! So I filled out the form, they gave me a carbon copy for "my records" and today, I got my scarf in the mail!
I feel badly, though, because I totally would have paid the $2.13 it cost to mail it. And in some ways, I guess I have, since I pay my taxes (well, most years I qualify for a full refund, but I have paid taxes), and the Smithsonian is almost completely taxpayer-funded. But the Smithsonian is in need of almost a full overhaul, and while I love my free museums, I would be willing to pay $1 if needed to make sure they can reopen the First Ladies' Dresses exhibit at the Museum of American History (closed currently for renovations) on time, instead of the six years it took the Portrait Gallery to re-open. And I think if there were a donation bucket at the door, most people would throw in at least their pocket change, which, at 25 million visitors a year, could easily add up to $25 million.
In the meantime, there are ways to donate to the Smithsonian, if you feel so inclined. The American History museum has a donation link right on its homepage. Of course, while I'm willing to give $2.13 for postage and my pocket change over multiple visits, I don't really have $50 for them right now. I'm still waiting for my spring financial aid check to I can pay the rent :(
Nevertheless, hooray for having my scarf back!
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2 comments:
I feel the the entire premise of this post is to bait me into a rampaging rant.
Glad you got your scarf back though, and I'll give it up for the Natural History Museum any day.
Haha, I won't say that thought didn't also cross my mind! "Hmm, in order to make this a fully intelligent post and not piss of adspar, I should probably do some more research... but I'm basically just happy about my scarf and he'll live with that." :)
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