Your Turn: Paid to Wait

Photo, and congrats, to: Astrid Riecken/The Washington Times.

I was interested in your take on this photo. It earned third place in the “Capitol Hill” category of the 2010 White House News Photographer’s Association “Eyes of History” awards.

The caption reads:

“John Lyon, 58, reads a book while line-standing for a House Financial Services Committee hearing with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, on June 18, 2009. Lyon, who recently lost his job as counter manger at a landscaping company, says he is paid $15 an hour to hold space in line for those too busy to wait.”

Update: “Those too busy to wait” = high-priced DC lobbyists who, well used to buying access, regularly employ guys like John.