I walked through a swanky hotel lobby today. I was passing through to make a reservation at their guest restaurant for my 97 year old special mom’s birthday surprise. Lobbies are among my favourite places because they are usually decorated in a welcoming fashion. This makes me feel chill, and when I’m actually staying in a hotel I need to feel soothed from my travel anxieties.
The comforting old word vestibule comes to mind as getting close to the feeling I get while in a lobby. These gathering places can be found in railway stations, libraries, theatres, legislative buildings, and even court houses. When I’m standing in grand, high-ceilinged vestibules I want to whisper, for fear of waking any traveller-spirit who might have come through this portal before I arrived on the scene. One of my favourite spots is Union Station in Toronto. Even if I don’t have a ticket to go somewhere, I have often sat on a bench in that building filling myself with the many stories swirling ethereal all around me.
Years ago, my wife and I managed a condo building with a simple, yet elegant lobby. She took on the task of keeping it spotless, while I did the less-noticed backroom stuff. The building had security cameras located there so comings & goings were recorded. One early morning while mopping the slate floors, she witnessed a bold robbery of a Federal Postal Key. She challenged the thief, he tried to smooth talk his way out of the whole affair, eventually leaving. The entire moment was caught on tape, and eventually so was the perpetrator. My wife was a prime witness in court. It was a big deal! I remember the government lawyer (referring to the crook as the Lobby Lothario) telling my bride that she was made of tough stuff. Indeed she is.
Speaking of scenes on film, that song, “Let’s all go to the lobby…” is lodged in my childhood brain from numerous trips to the drive-in on a summer’s night. I wouldn’t call the soda fountain type, confection-stocked area, that is really a small shack in a parking lot, a lobby. But there we go playing around with words and muddling their meaning! Really!
Some people call themselves Lobbyists, which sounds more akin to an historical military division. While I think of it, there is a combat-style approach taken when lobbying the government for favours. Behind the glad-handing and off-side bribery there is a desire by Lobby Groups to circumvent the democratic process and seek special compensations for all manner of shady operations. The National Rifle Association is one of the darker operatives spending millions each year to persuade elected government officials to see things their way. Amidst all the swirling official papers, memoranda, and protocols the highly valued 2nd Amendment of their flawed Constitution lives on, thanks to the Gun Lobby. Meanwhile, the stories of many are lost to fixable violence (2025 statistics record over 40,000 deaths).
This type of lobby is murderous and is going to require tougher stuff to bring justice.
Catch My Drift? 