Tonight, at the random restaurant Alyssa picked for dinner (Café Berlin on Massachusetts Ave. NE, just a few blocks from Capitol Hill), who should sit down next to us but Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Jon Thune (R-ND), and Dan Sullivan (R-AK).

Students sit at a restaurant table with a white tablecloth and glass water pitchers. A student stands with his hands on his hips in the center of a restaurant with tables with white tablecloths.

No, these are not great pictures. Yes, we were trying to take them surreptitiously. And yes, Thomas (pictured on the right) was really that stoked to have had dinner next to a bunch of senators. We maybe sort of kind of overheard conversations about the 2017 tax bill, the Senate’s prolific confirmation of conservative judges, Joe Biden, and impeachment. Maybe.

Even more amazing, on the Metro ride home, Thomas swore he recognized Al Franken sitting a few seats away. The rest of us said that it couldn’t be Franken (why would he be riding the Metro at 9:15 p.m. with a gym bag?), so at the end of the ride, Thomas went up to the gentleman and asked, “Do people often tell you that you look like Al Franken?” He replied, “There’s a reason for that…”

It was Al Franken.

#onlyinDC #insidethebeltway #photooritdidnthappen

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