Tuesday night I had a bad commuting experience and got in to my hotel in D.C. late at night. Exhausted and bedraggled, I slunk into the hotel lobby, checked in at the reception desk, and headed toward the elevator to get to my room and drop off my bags.
And there I saw . . . this. A perfectly good sculpture, I suppose, in a normal setting. In a museum, people might pause to examine it and remark upon its craftsmanship. But the last thing a tired traveler needs to see on the way to a strange room in strange hotel in a strange city is a depiction of a distraught man folded in on himself, his head cupped in his hands — the very picture of despair and dejection.
Here’s a tip for hotel interior decorators — when you’re selecting art for the lobby, anything that conveys deep depression and loneliness probably isn’t a really good idea.
Webner House 