Talk about attacks on the Capitol, on Democracy, etc., but there were real human beings who were terrified and injured—police, Congresspeople, staffers, etc.

One of the most haunting parts of the day on 1/6 was when the Speakers young staff was trapped in a conference room. As recounted in the hearings one young female staff member asked the other while hiding behind a table behind a locked door if she thought they(meaning the insurrectionists) were taking hostages she answered, “I think so”. When later asked about that the staffer said it was more comforting to think they were taking hostages than the alternative. That defined the terror of that day to me. These young peoples lives are changed. They were terrorized, it is that simple. And yes, they do work their asses off.

Also, I would love a 32 minute commute in DC. I can’t believe that is the average but I am now jealous of those that have it.

I know some people commute hours per day. But theirs must be offset by commutes of people working from home, people lucky enough to live near work, etc.

that's why people are reluctant to go into the office if we don't have to. Traffic has been bad even without it. And many folks live far away.

sprawl, aka 'exurbia' that has grown up since the late 80s in several outer NoVa and Md counties and even eastern WV. These areas have become part of the larger Metro area due to the increase in the cost of housing and population growth. Some service people in lawn care, mechanics, etc. live in the lower- cost Shenandoah Mt. region miles away and commute in for a couple hours daily.

15-20 yrs ago I was amazed to learn the commute time of people in other cities and states: Richmond, 20 mins, Pittsburgh, 10-20 mins, Ohio, varied, Balto., 15 mins.

I hope people don't think that most of DC's area population work only in major govt. functions like Congress. There are civil service employees in the federal govt. (after Reagan's axe), many locals that work for non profit organizations (not only lobbyists and think tanks), others in the private sector and also the tech field which has expanded like the MIC esp. since W.

so many contractors will work in different places around the suburbs and exurbs. Unless they move every few months, they are bound to be stuck with multi-hour commutes. I had that back in the day. I went in to the office today but don't want to do it every day like before.