Is Denver Ready? On the Streets This Weekend

Saturday morning
Downtown Denver, 16th Street Mall & Tremont

Two young men in Barnes & Noble shirts wash the large picture windows of the store with lambswool on the end of long poles. Dozens of police in black with assault weapons walk down the mall in groups or ride black bicycles or Segways. They somberly search through the coleus, pansies and vinca vines in the hundreds of decorative pots lining the street and hanging from baskets. People of all ages in yellow shirts appear to be volunteer greeters for the host committee. Those in the purple shirts pick up trash, or drive by in purple trucks with watering equipment for all the flowers.

“Welcome to Denver” banners hang from the streetlights. A pair of street musicians strum guitars while singing golden oldies such as “Bye Bye Love.” A city employee applies an information sticker on a cigarette disposal bin. A middle-aged man in shorts and tennis shoes fires up his waffle iron for his vendor booth. He sells waffles with cherries, strawberries, tart cranberry and pineapple sauce and even kiwi fruit. His wife sits nearby in a director’s chair, sipping a Starbuck’s. She works for Denver Public Schools and says she worried about how to get to work next week because many streets will be blocked off, the bus schedule is changed and the light rail will not be in service.

A man buying a strawberry waffle is out of sorts because he’d planned to take his kids to Elitch Gardens amusement park on the edge of downtown. But it’s closed, he says, in preparation for the media party tonight. A tall, thin man with a gray beard asks if his waffle can be ready quickly. “I have an appointment with Obama at the Pepsi Center,” he jokes.

Fleets of helicopters provide a constant background buzz. Sirens are heard more frequently than they should be on a Saturday morning in a city this size. A skinny 22-year-old man named Mike holds a large board covered with Obama buttons, all designed by him. He’s a college student from Chicago majoring in graphic design who is visiting his girlfriend in Denver and thought he’d make some extra money. “I’m not voting for Obama,” he announces, “if he picks Hillary for his running mate.” When he is told that the announcement has been made and it’s Biden, he says he’s okay with that, and Obama will get his vote. Business is brisk but he finally gets the bum’s rush from a policeman.

He yells out to me as he escorted away. “Stop by again. I’ll be here all week.” He grins and turns around. Later I see him holding his board up to a car window showing his wares to the driver. A policeman across the street on a Segway ignores him.

The Convention is beginning.