DON’T PANIC! And other fun things to do when the Government shuts down
Everyone has a complete and total meltdown every now and again and the government is no exception. Fortunately, things are usually back to normal in just a couple of short days. But for those of us living in DC, we may find a government shutdown a little more problematic than the rest of the country does. No monuments. No museums. No National Parks. Just a vague sense of unease that has settled over the city like a heavy fog. What’s a poor Washingtonian supposed to do? Well, DC Fray has a few fun activities that will really get you into the government shutdown spirit. And if not, well then at least we will get you prepared for the worst. Good luck!
Watch movies
Pretty much any post-apocalypse movie will put you in the government shutdown spirit. But if you’re not into the heavy stuff, try popping in Night at the Museum (the second one obviously) cause we know you’re missing your daily dose of the Smithsonian right about now. So snuggle up with your apocalypse buddies or your museum-loving fiends and chillax while you go on pretending like the backbone of our country just didn’t shut down.
Support local businesses
Just because politicians get a break doesn’t mean Mom-and-Pop-shops do. And since we all know big businesses run Washington anyway, do your part this government shutdown and really stick it to the man by rejecting your conglomerate overlords, shop local and stock up on end of the world essentials from the shop on the corner. The government might be back up and running tomorrow, or it might not. Either way, you may wanna grab a few extra cans of Spam, just in case.
Don’t skip leg day
Take a bike ride around the District. We still have cars, and buses, and the Metro… for now. But it’s always better to be safe than sorry which means you should probably embrace your new post-shutdown-tech-free lifestyle before it’s too late. After all, the government is down which means the end is probably near. You may have to outrun anything from zombies to cops, to robotic alien emperors. You’ll thank us one day.
Read up on classic survival guide material
Hunger Games, Divergent, 1984, Animal Farm… get where we’re going here? Crucial life or death information lines the shelves of your local bookstores. These first-hand accounts of dysfunctional politics have everything you need to know if you want to make it out of this government shutdown alive. But if you hopped off the Katniss Everdeen bandwagon years ago, or if dystopian futures just really aren’t your thing, you can still swing by and pick up a book about government and politics and maybe you can make sense of why ours can’t seem to function.
Don’t resort to cannibalism
Instead, take your family (or friends (or just yourself)) and go out for a nice dinner. Government or not, DC is still chock full of excellent restaurant choices for you to visit and chow down at. We suggest stopping by one of DC’s most Instagrammable restaurants. Nothing like watching the world implode by a candlelit dinner complete with steak tartare. And if anyone complains, well then, let them eat cake!
Drink
Gather together with your most trusted friends and start plotting up a new government (hey, it’s what our founding fathers did, ok?). Or, you could just drink until you forget the fact that the world may be ending and you may or may not be out of a job and you may or may not see the pandas ever again because the zoo is closed. But cheers! To the Revolution! And to cheap beer!
But most importantly, don’t forget to have fun this government shutdown! Any ideas we should add to our list? Leave us a comment. Be sure to let us know how you spend your shutdown by tagging us on social media with #FrayLife and #DCFray!
View More Articles By Brooke Buskirk