Watching the inauguration at Sportsmen
The classical supergroup sounded its final note on the inaugural stage. "Now. Now can we do this?" Randolph Byrd, a barber at Sportsmen House of Coiffures on Swope Parkway, asked impatiently.
This was the swearing in of the 44th president. Work at Sportsmen came to a halt as Barack Obama took the oath. Even the UPS guy stopped and watched.
As Obama swore to defend the constitution, Byrd stood by his chair, arms locked with fellow hair stylist Mary Bryson. Byrd said he was sorry that his mother hadn't lived to see the day. "Good luck to him," he said, watching Obama on a television atop a refrigerator.
"To him? To all of us," Bryson answered.
Earlier, a few miles away, a delighted crowd watched the inaugural proceedings on a big screen in the Truman Forum Auditorium at the Plaza branch of the Kansas City Library.
Michelle Obama received enthusiastic applause when she appeared on the inaugural stage. Scattered hisses greeted Dick Cheney's emergence. Once "Hail to the Chief" struck up, polite claps were offered to George W. Bush.
And for the president-elect, a standing ovation.
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