Talkin' Shit About A Pretty Sunset

Monday through Friday I bike through Lafayette Park, onto Pennsylvania Avenue, right in front of the White House and onto the final leg of my route to work. I've passed the White House hundreds of times in the past year.

On each of those trips, exactly two somewhat odd, somewhat un-noticeable-to-the-untrained-eye, re-occurring rituals are played out. I've lost count of the times I've seen this:

Odd thing #1: A large gaggle of tourists---usually Asian or American midwestern school children---are gathered, not near the White House where they should be, but around the homeless woman who has been camped out in front of the White House since 1981 in protest of the existence of nuclear weapons. She has these wooden signs that say, "BAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS, OR HAVE A NICE DOOMSDAY". The tourists are just chatting away with this woman. Weird.

Odd thing #2: Some tourist---usually a white, midwestern-looking girl---is taking pictures, not of the White House, but of the freaking Bank of America building across from it on Pennsylvania Ave. It's not like the building is interesting or special or something; it just looks like your average bank.

Why are these things happening? WTF?