When Biden is in town, even the haters get excited

When President Joe Biden is in town, there’s an undeniable energy, and pretty much everyone – yes, haters too – gets excited. Like or dislike, he's still the president of the United States, and it’s amazing to watch the security measures taken to keep him safe. Just ask the pilot who accidentally flew into the restricted air space during the president’s most recent visit. We’ve all heard of police escorts, but that pilot got a fighter jet escort.

Those security measures make it impossible to not know when Biden is anywhere near, and that automatically attracts attention.

In the case of Rehoboth Beach, the majority of the attention is supportive. The morning he was at Rehoboth Beach City Hall delivering the monthly jobs report, dozens of people waited patiently just for the possibility of getting a glimpse. While they waited, people shared stories about times when Biden had shown up in town when he was vice president or as a senator before that. When Biden left city hall, this crowd cheered even though it was hard to tell which SUV he was in because there are half a dozen black SUVs that look the same.

It wasn’t all Biden supporters, though, and the Biden haters also didn’t miss their opportunity to show and voice their opinion of the president.

There were a number of cars with stickers supporting former President Donald Trump and others who expressed their displeasure with Biden as they drove by during the 30-minute wait. Maybe those drivers slowed down as they approached the Biden supporters because they thought people were trying to cross the street, but I think the snail’s pace was so supporters could get a good look at their car art. A number of the drivers rolled by with their windows down and weren’t silent. In the past, there has been a pickup truck plastered with stickers and signs showing that person’s disdain for Biden. I didn’t see that truck this past weekend, but I’m sure the driver was there in spirit and will be excited that I’m using the truck for this column’s artwork.

When you’re on the greens, you’ve got to keep moving

The Gazette’s office is in the Nassau Vineyards development outside Lewes.

From the Nassau bridge to Dewey Beach’s Collins Avenue, there are 21 intersections with traffic lights. Some days it feels like I hit all 21, but it doesn’t always happen. The other day, I was working on a short update about the state of the beaches now that we’re a few weeks removed from that nasty Mother’s Day nor’easter. I wanted to get two photos for the story – one at Collins Avenue in Dewey and one at the very north end of the Boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach. About halfway through the eight-mile trip, as I neared the Route 1 intersection of Munchy Branch and Miller roads, I realized I hadn’t stopped moving since the traffic light at Wawa outside Lewes. That was six straight traffic lights, including the gauntlet from Acme to Walmart. 

Leaving the Gazette parking lot, I was heading straight to the Boardwalk – people were there working and I didn’t want to miss the action shot – then I was going to Dewey – that was going to be more of a scenic shot.

When I realized my green-light-to-red-light ratio, I kept heading south – action shot be damned. I wasn’t about to taunt the green light gods. It was a beautiful morning. I enjoy the drive from Dewey to Bethany, and most importantly, I didn’t have to get anything done on deadline. I was prepared to keep things going.

In the end, I made it all the way to Dickinson Avenue in Dewey before having to stop again – a total of 17 straight intersections. It wasn’t all green lights – there were three yellows and an orange at an intersection where I knew there wasn’t a traffic camera – and I knew it would end, but it was fun while it lasted.

Joke of the Week:

I called and readers answered. Last week, I said the cupboard of reader-submitted jokes was empty, and I had half a dozen people reach out with submissions. I appreciate the submissions and they will be used in future columns. This week, as school winds downs for the year, I’m going to use one from my Aunt Helen, a retired teacher.

Q: Why did the teacher go to the beach?

A: She wanted to test the water.