We had some friends of ours invite us to the DC United soccer game yesterday. Since we are pretty much all soccer/all of the time, of course we said yes. We were especially excited to see the new Audi Field, since the last time we saw them play was in RFK. (That was a sad experience. A once great stadium being left to decay and ruin. It was really bad). We had a very nice brunch at Mission Navy Yard. If you’re looking for fresh Mexican food and you’re down in the Wharf area, near Nats Park, I highly recommend it.
Anyway, we walked over to the stadium, and got in line to enter. As we reached the metal detectors, however, both of us women were stopped and told that our bags were too big to bring into the stadium. Now, mind you, my purse is 10″x 8″, and hers was even smaller. Security was arguing with us about the size of them, and how they either had to be clear or fit in a gallon-sized plastic bag.
Side note: Before writing this entry, I went to the Audi Field website to see if I could have been better prepared. Nowhere on there (that I could find) does it say anything about bag sizes or anything of the sort. DC United’s website does mention it, but if you haven’t been to a game at the new field, there’s no reason to think that the security there would be any different from any other stadium right?
Side note 2: I also found a bunch of articles from July and August of this year about the controversial new bag policy. But once again, yesterday, there was no reason to expect security to be different.
So back to Audi Field. Her bag fit in the gallon ziploc, so she was allowed to keep hers. Mine busted it, so security directed me to an area behind us where I could secure my bag until after the game. Muttering all of the way, I went over to where there are a ton of people in line. And I looked at the lockers.
They were on a trailer.
That’s right. A block of lockers, on a trailer with wheels, a trailer hitch and everything. Because nothing instills confidence like leaving your purse in a mobile locker setup in Washington DC, right? (Where is a sarcasm font when you need it?)
So I after I took out all of my money, my ID, my inhaler, sunglasses case and tried to stuff said items in my pockets, I joined the line to obtain a locker. Everybody, and I mean EVERYbody in line was bitching about this policy. There was a woman with a NY Red Bulls jersey (DCU’s opponent yesterday) loudly proclaiming, “We don’t even have this bulls*** in NYC!” Her grown daughter kept shushing her, but most of us in line agreed with the mom. A couple with children behind me was discussing whether it was even worth it and wondering if they should just go home. (They decided to stay, but said they’d never come back until the policy changed. This was a sentiment I heard repeated many times). The woman in front of me was using her phone’s camera to photograph everything in her purse. She looked at me and said, “This is probably the stupidest thing I have ever seen at a stadium.” I agreed wholeheartedly.
First stop in the line was a “security agent” who searched each of our bags. And I mean Every. Single. Compartment. Honestly, getting through TSA is less of a hassle. Then we had to fill out a form, including our cell number, in order to obtain the key to the locker for our item(s). Oh, and we had to pay $15.00 (cash or credit accepted). Then a key was tossed to the man opening the lockers. He instilled an awful lot of confidence, with his Bob Marley t-shirt and socks with marijuana leaves on them. At that point, I was trying to figure out how to put every single item in my purse in my pockets, especially my credit cards.
But instead, I told him the number I was given, he opened the locker (they were all master locks, not even locks set in the doors or anything) I put my purse in, he closed it, gave me a little wristband with the key attached, and told me I had until 30 minutes after the final whistle to come back and get my stuff. The wristband also had a tag with the locker number, so I guarded that puppy with my life. If lost, anyone could walk up and open the locker. There were no cross identity checks, ID check, or anything. What type of security is LESS secure than letting people keep their bags?!?
That whole process took at least 15 minutes. In the long run, we didn’t miss much of the pre-game stuff, but it was extremely frustrating. Fast forward to the end of the game. I retrieved my bag with no issues and it seems as if everything was still in the place where I had left it. In the end, no real harm, but plenty of foul! Security was letting people with baby bags enter without even checking them. People with clear bags were allowed in as well. There were no boxes or dimensions to compare a bag to. And on top of it all, most of the security at the gates was extremely rude.
The day wasn’t entirely lost. The weather held up (sun even came out), we had terrific seats above the goal, and we saw some awesome soccer (game ended in a 3-3 tie). But Audi Field is going to have to revamp this policy, or at the very least make it more widely-known, if they expect people to return to support the team.
