The State Capitol is in such as sad state of affairs, both inside and out. From the wholly embarrassing past couple of weeks as both sides of the aisle couldn’t come to a compromise on the budget, with only the people of Oklahoma truly losing in the end, to the edifice itself, filled with steel girders and scaffolding, part of a three-year project to restore the literally crumbling building that, as of late, has started to cave in upon itself.
I imagine that, beyond the Pepsodent smiles on the mailers and television commercials, the State Capitol must be a soul-crushing trudge for its many employees, with only the thought of what kick-backs and bribes and free lobbyist lunches they might receive today the main mitigating factor for even crawling out of bed. From the Governor herself to, as I would learn, the very gift-shop of the Capitol, nowhere or no-one was safe from this political ennui.
The original idea was to pick out a few gifts from the Capitol gift-shop and maybe dedicate them to certain lawmakers as a reminder of why they were put there and what their job is. But, as soon as I entered that dimly-lit area that was more welcoming desk that store, it became apparent that the rottenness of Denmark extended further that imagined, via hideous shirts, overpriced trinkets and staid novelties even a grade-school kid on a field trip with a ten-dollar bill burning a hole in his pocket would effortlessly leave untouched.
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