"Your Majesty, those are NASCAR fans..."

Last Thursday was a very interesting day for the city of Richmond. We were double-booked. Besides the effect this had on traffic (Richmonders aren't used to a lot of traffic, so there was a lot of complaining), it also was an intriguing look at culture.

On Cary Street, they blocked off the roads because NASCAR was in town. The drivers all park their cars on the street and you can meet some of them and check out their cars. This is always a huge event here, since Richmond International Speedway is a major stop on the NASCAR circuit. It also is one of the few "night tracks" on the circuit, since most of the Richmond races are under the lights. I grew up only 2 hours north in Fairfax, yet I had never experienced NASCAR until I got here. The hype around Richmond is incredibly exciting, even if you don't normally follow the sport.

About 8 blocks away at the Virginia Capitol building, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip were visiting Richmond as a brief stop before heading to Williamsburg and Jamestown for the 400th Anniversary of the Jamestown Settlement. There was music from all sorts of different genres represented, and thousands of people picnicked on the Capitol Lawn waiting for a chance to see British Royalty. The Queen and the Prince made their walk for about a half hour, waving and having their pictures taken, and then went into the Capitol to give a speech to the state representatives.

I can't even imagine what the conversation had to be to explain to the Queen why there was another major event that was causing traffic in the city that day. Has the Queen ever heard of NASCAR? Who knows.

But the one thing I noticed about this city is that Richmonders take pride in their culture, but also give a lot of respect for other cultures. When city officials realized that they had double-booked the downtown area, they didn't make NASCAR back down because of the Queen, even though it had been 50 years since the Queen had been to Richmond and NASCAR comes twice a year. They still had the same fun celebration of the sport that they would have had if they had been the only event in town like they are used to. Richmonders were probably proud of the fact that they could have their beloved NASCAR represented at the same time as the Royal Family of our former days when we were a colony represented right down the street. It showed the diversity of Richmond and the importance that they put on their own culture of car racing, but also the importance of respecting another culture. They wanted to the Queen to see NASCAR for the first time. I think it was an important gesture to the residents of Richmond, and I'm proud that I can call myself a Richmonder, even if it's only for a couple years.