Mayor Bill de Blasio invited guests to Gracie Mansion, "your house," as the mayor likes to call it—yesterday afternoon for a special open house celebrating his new administration. Thousands of New Yorkers from all five boroughs lined up outside of his/our home for more than two hours for a chance to be corralled through four rooms of the mansion ('the tour') and to get a photo taken with the mayor.

Given the length of the line, the weather, and the fact that guests were not allowed to use the bathroom in their own home, it was surprising to hear that most people did not think they had completely wasted their Sunday afternoon.