Caught Red-Handed
The entire time I’ve lived in Chicago, I’ve been very fortunate in that I’ve never really experienced any crime. I know it happens everywhere and to every type of person but I’ve been pretty lucky these past six years and for that I am grateful. I did, however, have my first crime-ish run-in last week and while it was not really serious at all, it was something.
I caught some dude stealing the tire off my bike.
Like seriously WTF
I had gone on a walk around 9pm and was on my way home when I noticed a bicycle propped up against the front of my building. That struck me as strange and ballsy since it wasn’t locked up to anything but I figured maybe someone was running in or dropping something off. Anyway I turned into my courtyard and immediately passed some guy I’d never seen before as he was carrying a bike tire away from the racks and back towards what I assume was his bike by the wall. This also struck me as odd so I immediately checked my bike and sure enough, my front tire was gone. Before I knew what I was doing, I called him out on it (this may or may not have had something to do with the beer I had at Book Club earlier that evening). I wasn’t mean or bitchy, mostly surprised and confused and I simply asked loudly if I could have my bike wheel back. He had already turned the corner and I expected him to ignore me, hop on his bike and ride off into the night but I think I surprised him as well. He kind of froze and asked what I had just said and at this point I had come up to the sidewalk (leaving the fence between us) and I asked for my wheel back once again. He actually handed it over the fence and apologized, saying he was only going to borrow it. Oh, sure, right, of course. Borrow. I was so shocked that he gave it back that I didn’t say anything else, just turned around and quickly walked inside (while making sure he wasn’t behind me, obviously). I WISH I had made some smart-ass comment about how I never gave him permission to borrow a damn thing but it’s probably for the best that I kept my mouth shut. I got my tire back and hopefully scared him away for a while, if not for good. And really, I’m just glad I happened to be walking in at the right time so I could catch him to begin with.
Now I just need to figure out how to put the stupid tire back on my bike. Maybe I should have asked him to do that too?
Wish List
I don’t know exactly what this is but I want one.
I passed this in the parking lot of the United Center after the Bulls game last week and let’s just say it caught my eye. Sure, it might not be the most family-friendly vehicle in the world but I don’t have the need for a car seat so that’s okay with me! I do, however, have a need for speed and that translates as a need for this car. So in case you were looking for holiday or birthday ideas for me, look no further!
Man Down
Yesterday, I was witness to an unfortunate incident involving some guy and a patch of sidewalk. I was walking to the el as part of my morning commute when I noticed a fellow jogging quickly behind me. He was carrying a banana in one hand and a coffee mug full of carrots or something in the other and as I watched, he tripped over an uneven part of the sidewalk. Badly. For a moment I thought he would catch himself as it was like a scene out of a slow-motion cartoon where he kept running and trying not to fall but then – he fell. Hard. And since his hands were full he basically landed on his shoulder/arm/face, all at once.
Beware!
Now, this is a guy I’ve seen around the neighborhood before because we seem to have similar work schedules and I also see him fairly often at the gym. He has red hair so he’s even more noticeable and when he fell I ran up to him to see if he was still alive. I could clearly see his entire face was as red as a fire truck because he was so embarrassed, which is a reaction I understand since I’m engaged to a red-head myself. The poor guy tried to shake it off as he stood up and I attempted to make light of the situation by congratulating him on not shattering his mug but I could tell it was taking everything he had not to start crying. Hell, I wanted to cry just after witnessing his fall. I didn’t want to make things worse for him so I awkwardly muttered my condolences and we both continued our way to the el – walking, not running.
After we got on the train I looked at him again and he was clearly bleeding quite a bit from his various wounds. Did I mention that he was wearing a nice, white button-up shirt? Because he was and it was basically ruined. He looked pretty pathetic and helpless so I gave him the pack of tissues I had in my bag and he looked at me like I was Jesus giving him a loaf of bread. He cleaned himself up as best as he could while in a tightly-packed public space (though people were giving him some room because he was still bleeding all over the place and they were probably like WTF). He looked at me before he got off at his stop and gave me a silent nod that basically said thanks and my entire day is going to suck. I can only hope it got somewhat better and he could get the blood out of his shirt.
Now, I’m not sure if he’s ever noticed me around town or not but the next time I see him I don’t think I’m going to be able to stop myself from cracking some smart ass joke or comment. Especially if he’s in a cast. I think I earned that right when I gave up my tissues, right? Though I shouldn’t get too full of hubris because winter is right around the corner and I fall and bust my ass at least once every year. But at least now I’ll know which part of the sidewalks to avoid!
My Hero!
It’s been a long week and my brain is completely, utterly through with me. This was evidenced by the fact that I dropped my wallet outside of Target in downtown Chicago today and walked far, far away without it. However, by the time I got back to my office I had an email that someone had messaged me on this here blog and that message was from a mysterious Superman who happened to find my wallet, google my name and come across this site (don’t ask me how because I don’t understand the internet). He wasn’t exactly sure he had the right person but had turned in my wallet to Target anyway and wanted to let me know. Guy, if you’re reading this, I will buy you a drink or a taco or a cape and Superman t-shirt because you seriously saved my ass.
Also, THIS HAS COMPLETELY REAFFIRMED MY FAITH IN HUMANITY!
I think I need to go home and hide under my covers for the rest of the day.
Seriously. This area of downtown is full of tourists and also known for panhandlers and homeless people so I’m extremely lucky someone didn’t just plain steal my stuff. I told the guy that I hope karma repays him with wonderful things and I absolutely mean that. I have never, until today, lost a wallet and I don’t even know how I would go about trying to fix my life if mine hadn’t been found. I know Chicago sometimes gets a bad rap as a dangerous place but there are still good people out there who look out for the strangers that share their city. And you can be sure I’ll be looking for ways to pay this forward in the near future.
Thanks again to my stranger savior and hell, thanks to WordPress for giving me a place that somehow linked us together. I guess my blogging isn’t so pointless after all!
Slaughter Slaughtered
Well, maybe we can do it. We just have to do it differently!
Anne-Marie Slaughter is the current President and CEO of the New America Foundation and the former Director of Policy Planning for the US State Department under Hillary Clinton. She’s an impressive woman in many regards and she’s well-known and respected across various fields of business and politics. I was lucky enough to attend a luncheon this week where she was a guest speaker and her talk was pretty fascinating. In addition to everything else, she’s the author of this article called “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All” in 2012. She’s a big advocate for women accepting the fact that there is no such thing as a perfect work/life balance for the modern woman, mostly because the policies, politics and workplace mentalities currently prevent it. She just wrote a book that expanded on her article and her points make a lot of sense, even if they weren’t particularly easy for me to listen to, especially as I’m in that whole potentially-childbearing-one-day-in-the-future age and I would sort of like to keep my career as well.
ANYWAY, if you have the time you should check out the article. Her whole concept on “lead parenting” is new and intriguing although it really shouldn’t be. And regardless of how disappointing it is that I might not be able to have it all, I can still have what I want! It just might not look like it used to. And that’s okay!
Now We’re Cooking
As I mentioned in the last post, I attended my first ever cooking class on Friday afternoon. And I didn’t cut off any body parts – mine or anyone else’s! This is especially impressive given I had a few glasses of wine during the process. The entire event was really fun and they made it as fool-proof as possible for us in that most things were prepped and ready to go when we arrived. Even the fully stocked bar! I did learn some things during the class, including some cutting techniques which I’d never used before but actually work. Also, according to our chef, the only knives you need in a kitchen are a butcher knife, paring knife and serrated knife for bread. I have many more than that but it’s good to know I can downsize with no problem!
This could be me. Easy.
I think I’d like to take another cooking class at some point – maybe it’s a good date night idea? We ended up with a ton of food and I spent the rest of the day in a food coma, which is a perfectly wonderful way to spend a Friday. Actually, maybe taking another class is a bad idea…if I really figure out what I’m doing in the kitchen, I may get so fat that I need to be rolled out!
TGIF
It’s been quite a week.
On Tuesday, I attended a luncheon/30th Anniversary Celebration for the Chicago Foundation for Women. There were roughly 1500 people in attendance and we had speakers who told us the impact that this organization has made in their lives. The Mayor of Chicago also spoke and the key speaker was Ashley Judd (yup, the actress). It was an informative and inspirational event and I’m really lucky that my company had a table that allowed me to go!
I may not eat chicken but I can beat it!
Tuesday evening, I had a meeting for the Volunteer Committee I’m on for the food pantry. We had our biggest annual fundraiser last Friday (and yours truly may have had too good a time…Saturday was a little rough for me) so we had a lot to discuss. I write a newsletter for the Pantry once a month so I’ve been working on that this week too (not to mention the old magazine articles that I still write each month but those are so habitual I barely register them anymore).
Last night, Thursday, I worked an event sponsored by the Chicago Ideas Week at the Field Museum. I basically hung out in one of my favorite exhibits for a few hours after work and talked to hundreds of teenagers who wandered through. It was fun but not going to lie, my voice was leaving me by the end of the night.
Today, I’m leaving work early to attend an outing with some of the women I work with. We’re going to The Chopping Block, which provides cooking classes and a cooking class is something I’ve never done. Prepare for highlights on that sometime next week – at least, if I don’t somehow manage to cut off a finger. My culinary skills are a little haphazard so we’ll see how this goes!
Finally, tomorrow I’ll be working at the first event with Boy Scouts at the Field Museum for the season (I have three total this month). I’m teaching groups all about archaeology and we’re doing mock digs. I totally dig it! Yes, I went there. It should be fun but it’ll be a long day.
What will I do on Sunday? Probably hide from all adult responsibilities for as long as I can. At the laundromat. Hopefully with all fingers intact!
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