My quick trip to Chicago

Last Wednesday I took a day trip to Chicago for work. I took off at 9 a.m. EST and arrived in Chicago shortly after 10 a.m. CST. A quick $40 cab ride later, I was in downtown Chicago at the America's Second Harvest (A2H) office. A2H is probably my favorite client, mostly because they were my first writing client.

I started writing for them when Hurricane Katrina hit because they had a lot of emergency fund-raising appeals that had to go out very quickly and our only writer in the Atlanta office didn't have time to write them. I offered to help out -- it turned out well, and that's how I got promoted from proofreader to copywriter.

Anyway, let's jump back to my trip to Chicago. I got there just in time for a tour and an early lunch on the Magnificent Mile at an authentic Chicago-style pizza eatery. As a side note, my cab driver jokingly said they call it the "Magnificent Mile" because you can spend magnificent amounts of money there. Walking down the street a bit, I'm pretty sure he was right. And on another side note, my cab driver was awesome. I probably now know more about Chicago, its buildings, tourist sites, and history than most Chicago residents.

Well, I wasn't in Chicago to eat pizza or hear about all the hotspots from cool cab drivers. No, I was actually there to interview children at a Kids Cafe site on the south side of Chicago. Why does the south side of Chicago ring a bell? Well I'll tell you, or rather, Jim Croce will.



In case you missed it, he says:
Well the south side of chicago
Is the baddest part of town
And if you go down there
You better just beware
Of a man named leroy brown

Incidentally, I didn't actually run into Leroy Brown, which is good. But I did see why it's "the baddest part of town." The further we drown down Division Street, the worse it got. That's the thing about food banks -- they have to be where the need is the greatest, and that generally means rough neighborhoods.

Talking to the kids was amazing. Every time I go on one of these types of trips, I'm underprepared emotionally. It's like something you'd see in a movie. The kids were 6-12 years old and some of them had already seen more tragedy than most adults ever do. One of the girls I interviewed, who was 7, lost both a brother and sister to stray bullets from driveby shootings. Another few had lost good friends. Another lost a mom to drugs. And yet for the most part, they were such good kids with great attitudes. It's so good to see the people who directly benefit from the work my clients do and I'm grateful to be a part of it. I'm looking forward to another trip to talk to more kids next month. I'll let you know how it goes.

After the interviews, I had to rush to the subway to catch a train to Midway Airport. I was running a little late and when I got to the machine to get my fare card, I was stunned to see that it was a cash-only deal. Plus the ATM was out of order. I scrambled, thinking I had no money and knowing I didn't have time to find a bank. Luckily, I found a $20 in my purse. Unfortunately the machine also doesn't give change -- and my fare was only $2. Good times. Now I have a Chicago transit fare card for $18. At least it's on my company's dime :)

The rest of the trip was drama-free. There was no security line, so I made it with a little time to spare. Unfortunately it was nearly midnight when I got home -- and it was hard to believe it was still the same day. Worse was that I had to be to work on time the next morning because I had so much going on. It's OK though, I caught up on my sleep this weekend. And now I'm off to another crazy week!