Apathy in Richmond

Yesterday, we went to a coffee shop in Henrico County, west of Richmond. We asked the barista if there were any copies of the Washington Post, and she said they had sold out. I told her we were heading to Washington, and she didn't say anything. I waited a bit, then asked if people in Richmond were close enough to Washington that political events were boring here. She said that she had to go to classes Tuesday, so going to DC was not really an option. Besides, she said, the weather would be so could that she wouldn't want to deal with the whole thing. We told her that we had so much invested in the whole thing that we were going to show up no matter what. She said she hoped at least the crowds would be packed so that we'd all be less cold. Of course, she was busy, and the whole time she was probably thinking more about coffee cups than the inauguration. But as she served us our coffee she fitted our cups with Ann Coulter insulators, a subtle hint that our Yankee political leanings (Californians count as Yankees down here) weren't particularly welcome in her coffee shop.