All of the business men and women, senators, representatives, tour guides, office hands, and students coming to tour the building appear to know where they are going. The capital building is one of the most recognizable buildings in Denver because of its grandeur and beauty that lines the cityscape. As I walk through the doors I peer upwards feel like my gaze could continue forever until it finally reached the top of the dome, what seemed like miles away. It is so big. Beautiful paintings of all of the governors to hold office in the State of Colorado line the circular room.
As walk in with the crowd, I attempt to follow the signs around the building and run into a lady who seems to know what is going on. She is a short middle aged lady, with short blond hair, a very professional look about her and a clipboard in hand, which to me implied that she might know a bit about this beautiful building and the happenings that take place there. “Mam, do you happen to know where the House of Representatives is in session?” I asked her. However to my disappointment, she in fact did not know as much about what was going on as I had anticipated. She replied, “I really don’t, however if you go up the elevator to the gallery, you may audit either the Senate or the House as they are always open to the public.” I thanked her and with some direction proceeded up the elevator to the gallery. The gallery was on the third floor of the building and in looking upwards the building still appeared to continue forever to the top of the dome.
The first gallery I came to was the House of Representatives. Upon entering, I sat down next to four or five others, who all had gray hair, and peered down with a birds-eye view upon Colorado’s House of Representatives, already in session. There appeared to be so much hustling and bustling going on below that it was a bit difficult to know where or who to look at. My eyes were bombarded with middle aged to old men and young vibrant ladies in suits, sitting, standing, walking, and moving from place to place within the large meeting gallery. Papers were being passed this way and that way, laptops were being typed upon and there did not actually appear to be much order at all to this meeting of state political representatives. The thought occurred to me that probably there was so much commotion because they were in recess. Next thing I know one of the middle aged ladies in her beautiful suit stood at the podium and announced the names of five people from Japan who came to Colorado to observe for the day. A large applause broke out in the House and the guests were warmly welcomed.
At that point the Speaker of the House called for a recess, which caused me to wonder what was happening before if not a recess. The giant brass chandelier hung from the ceiling and gold railing after gold railing outlined the gallery. The U.S. flag stood erect in the front of the room standing as a symbol of the great country that is known to be home for so many. It was next to the flag for the state of Colorado, much like a boy scouting function or a professional sporting event.
As the Chairman of the House, a large African American man with a low masculine voice came over the microphone situated in the front of the house with the desks and chairs in a half circular shape before the platform. He announced that the assembly was ready to resume. The Majority Leader announced a long list of bills that the representatives would be dealing with during the session. The large chairman pounded the giant wooden gavel like the ones seen in movies and announced in his deep masculine voice the order of the bills. “Is anyone paying attention?” I wondered to myself. Each time a new bill was brought to the assembly he announced and gave permission for the representatives to speak. The first item announced was for the clerk to read the House bill 1126. As if he were an auctioneer, the clerk announced with a nasaly voice the title of the bill. His voice moved so fast that I am not sure anyone even knew what the words were coming from his mouth, had the representatives not had the bill previously given to them. “Did anyone else hear what he said?” I looked around to see if anyone else was laughing at how ridiculous he sounded but sure enough I happened to be the only one. It must be a normal occurrence that everyone else is quite used to. House bill 1126 was shown on the overhead screen in black letters against a plain, white background. The floor was then open for discussion to clarify physical therapist’s work on clients. The bill stated that the clients could be someone other than a human being. The department of Health and Human Services was trying to allow the physical therapist’s to be able to work on animals. Once again I found myself snickering a bit, in utter disbelief that this was actually something being talked about in this formal venue. Representative after representative exited their large wooden desks and big green chairs to approach the podium and discuss this crazy bill. The sound of the gavel was heard throughout the large room from the Chairman’s hand. “I’s” were heard in one accord from the representatives and the bill was passed. The only people that actually seemed to take much interest in this bill and all of the bills for that matter were those at the podium speaking about it as the rest of the house continued in its chaotic manner. It is a wonder how they knew what they were saying “I” for.
The lull of voices continued throughout the morning and no one really ever seemed to pay much attention to the business being discussed from the podium. It made me think back to the lady who I tried to get directions from when I first arrived. Does anyone know what is going on around here? One representative was reading his newspaper for the entire morning, others carrying on private conversations as the giant wooden gavel pounded over and over again as bill after bill was discussed and “I” after “I” was shouted from the crowd. What was once thought of as a formal meeting, in which important matters were discussed, turned out to be not so formal and the issues were mostly not so important, such as whether or not physical therapists could practice on animals. It seemed to be just another day for our state lawmakers.
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