Chicago Road Trip

I met my friend Menucha while I worked at the pot pie company.  She was my counterpart at a vendor for a substantial contract, so we worked together quite regularly.  We both inherited a very challenged situation, but quickly turned it around due to our partnering on the problems.

Menucha’s greatest personal assets are her organization and persistence.  I’ve never seen her eat spaghetti, but wouldn’t be surprised if she straightened the noodles – and maybe gave them firm instruction to the effect of “now noodles, you will get in my mouth so I can eat you” – before eating them.  She’s no nonsense, which makes her very good at what she does.  It also makes giving her a hard time that much more fun.

I hadn’t seen Menucha in a few months, but she lives only 2 hours away now.  I finally had an event I couldn’t pass up, or two events to be precise.

1. Menucha is no longer persona non grata in the United States.  She is a full, naturalized U.S. citizen!
2. Her daughter, Gaia, was celebrating her first birthday.

I hadn’t yet met Gaia so I hopped in the truck, sans Gus, and headed down to Chicago.

I’m not certain if I could live in Chicago.  I have many friends there.  I love the town.  Great culture, restaurants, parks, things to do.  What kills me is the concentration of thoughtlessness. 

1. I chose the contraflow lane on the way down to Chicago.  This lane bypasses the local traffic, but doesn’t have outlets for many miles.  It’s intended for people that are driving through the area and wish to bypass the traffic (get to their end destination more quickly).  I entered the lane and was immediately stuck behind an SUV driving under the speed limit.  Cars in the non-contra lane were passing us.  We quickly had a dozen cars behind us.
2. I sat at two intersections where the light turned green, and the person in front didn’t move for 20 seconds.  On the second light, the light started turning yellow before they started moving. 
3. Driving through an ethnic neigborhood (Pakistani or Indian) just north of Menucha’s house, people were jaywalking everywhere.  I’m guilty of this crime, but these people were doing it by tossing their kids out in front of them, “if my kid gets hit, I’ll know not to cross.”

I may be too demanding.  I surround myself with people that are engaged in what they do, whatever they’re doing at that time.  That’s not a switch you turn off when you’re not at work, so they tend to be focused, passionate people even if they’re shopping at the grocery store.  I am starting to believe most people don’t like to be engaged or focused.

I made Menucha’s home about 20 minutes late.  She’s in a nice area to the north of the city, near Skokie and Evanston.

The party at Menucha’s was fun.  I brought plenty of beer and was thus dubbed, “the beer guy,” by her family and friends.  Strong turnout, including several youngsters that were running the length of the house and back.  Alan, Menucha’s husband, tried to stop them but I thought they were generating a nice breeze on an otherwise warm day.

Gaia ate her birthday cake uneventfully.  No cake on the face.  Acted responsibly.  Seems to have inherited her mom’s prudent nature.

Gaia also inherited her mom’s cautious look.  Gaia kept looking at me with this look of consternation.  She eventually smiled, but I could tell she was trying to figure me out.

Got to talking with Alan about geek stuff, and then we started sampling beers.  Alan’s a pretty cool guy, but I get the sense that he’s just a 12-pack and a weekend away from having some really crazy stories that involve tattoos.  I might pony up funds.

We tried several good Leinie’s before settling on the MGD 64.  I think MGD 64 is going to be a very hot product, and perhaps a game changer in the industry in the way the 100 calorie packs were for snacks.  64 rolls of the tongue.  It’s almost iconic.  The beer itself is a terrific replacement for the Coors Lights and Bud Lights.  Similar strength of flavor, and it’s nearly 50% the calories of a Bud Light.  Everyone I speak with says, “I can drink two of these instead of one Bud Light.”  People are talking about doubling their consumption rate.  Phenomenal.

Met everyone else at the party.  Heard a story about how one of the guys had worked on a nuclear submarine and had smuggled a case of Leinie’s on board, to drink while they were under the arctic ice cap!

All in all, good turnout and good people.  A little crowded in spots, but that’s because everyone was congregating around where everyone else was.  Headed back later that night, took the boy to the park, and called it a weekend.

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