Our visit to Minnesota’s State Capitol in St Paul provided us a real time experience with American Democracy. After parking our bikes in a paid lot at the south of the promenade leading to the capitol, we trekked up the hill, taking note of a group of school students queuing up under a glorious tree on the mall.
Entering the capitol we noted the classic architecture including the rotunda and the state seal inlay in the floor below the atrium. Although the house and senate were no longer in session, there was a bill -signing ceremony that day (it took place in the morning) wherein Governor Tim Waltz signed the omni-bus budget bill on the steps of the capitol.
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Wandering around between the house, the senate and the supreme court, we noticed what appeared to be singing echoing through the building. At first it sounded like buddhist chanting (not a total surprise as there were a group of buddhist monks visiting at the time), but on closer examination we found a group of Uber drivers expressing their desire for Tim Waltz to sign a bill that would result in greater equity for the Uber drivers. The group were chanting “Tim Waltz – Sign the Bill” and —- well — given the grand acoustics in the building this sounded like singing at a distance.
One last grand look down the steps of the Capitol at the promenade and we returned to our bikes and continued our journey.