my semester with Congressman Weiner.

To follow up my previous post, I thought that I'd give you all a glimpse into my amazing semester interning in Congressman Weiner's office.

I was a Legislative and Press Intern -- my job included your stereotypical clerical duties (answering the phone, going through the mail, stuffing envelopes, etc). I was also tasked with giving tours of the Capitol Building whenever constituents came to visit DC. There were a few rather interesting ones -- a tour of 13, 5th graders and we got lost in the building, ended up coming out the wrong door, and met meeting Speaker-elect Pelosi the day after election day in 2006, on her way to being elected as Speaker of the House. 

Some of my other duties included researching past legislation on housing and building codes, attending congressional hearings and proof-reading press releases. I developed such a great relationship with the staff, mostly because I was there 40 hours per week, just like them -- I was the only intern to have that kind of schedule. Because of that relationship, for the last half of my internship I was able to sit in on staff meetings -- meetings that interns were not allowed to be in on or participate in.

The one I remember most vividly was when the congressman announced that he was redecorating his office. At first, we were a bit puzzled -- then that evening, the painters came in and we were stunned by the color choice - yellow. And it wasn't just any yellow -- it was the brightest yellow I had ever seen on an interior wall. It was the color of a school bus. At first we thought it was a mistake, one that would test the limits on the congressman's colorful language. Much to our surprise, it was exactly what he hoped for. Bizarre? Absolutely. However, that's just the type of guy he was -- always keeping us on our toes.

Some of the best times in that internship were standing in the congressman's office, watching him give profound speeches on the floor of the House, condemning bad legislation or praising an unsung hero. We would cheer and clap as he flashed his titanium backbone, and made us proud to call him our boss.

Anthony Weiner may have let us down, but Congressman Weiner never has.