We're Interns, we're supposed to be wrong.

Being an intern has endless possibilities. There is the possibility to do well or to do poorly, to make use everything within your grasp, or not, to eat too much, to drink too much, shop too much or simply sight see too much. Living in the Metropolitan Mecca (for those with political aspirations), Washington D.C., exposed me to all sides of how or what an intern can be.
This past summer led me to an internship on Capitol Hill. I had the privilege of being offered a press internship. I worked for three months making copies, sorting and filing mail, answering phones, giving Capitol tours, running errands (of a somewhat important nature), and writing a few press releases and tributes. The perks of being a gopher allowed me to see and interact with many brilliant and/or famous people. In the midst of one of my many copying adventures, I ran into Hillary Clinton. I was on an already crowded elevator with stacks of news clips in my hand trying to get them to my boss. The elevator stops just one floor before my stop, the doors open and there stands Senator Clinton in all of her “glory.” Now, common courtesy requires that staff and interns alike exit an elevator should a member of congress need it. Seeing as we were already pretty full, we thought she could wait for the next elevator. No, no. Senator Clinton and her entourage (I believe there were five in all) climb on board the elevator whereupon she chooses to stand next to me. At this point we are standing arm-touching-arm on a very tiny elevator and she begins to talk to the elevator operator who is mentally handicapped. I’m sure the Senator was attempting to be funny by making a low sounding voice while talking to our elevator operator. However, her joke came off to everyone else in the elevator (somewhere around 12 people now) as her making fun of a retard. We were only in the elevator for a mere moment in time but that moment will stick with me for a lifetime.
The cultural norms as discussed by Judee Burgoon state that we, as human beings, have certain expectations. In this instance, my expectation was that Senator Clinton would, first of all, have enough common sense to realize that seven staffers would not be emptying an elevator just for her when it was only one flight of stairs she could take (to her left), or would have just waited for another elevator. However, a former first lady violates the normalcy of a society’s culture, especially if she feels some form of entitlement in her everyday life. Had I been the only person aboard the elevator upon her calling it, I would have gladly exited the elevator in order to make a Senator’s life that much easier and simply out of respect. Not only did the Senator encroach upon my psyche but she also invaded my personal space. Any normal New York registered Democratic voter would have reveled in the opportunity to be touching their Senator but I, the young, staunch registered Republican voter, did not relish in this opportunity. She was in my “intimate distance” as Burgoon states. Senator Clinton, in the matter of 30 seconds, managed to violate my cultural beliefs as well as personal space.