Backtrack - Rewind

Rewind.

Probably due to the number of unhygienic places I've been in the past few weeks (I feel like there's always the smell of urine around me now), I've been suffering from some horrible urine-caused disease. Like monkeypox.

But thankfully, I kept careful notes of my Chicago adventures post-flight.

The train takes forever. Apparently, the tracks are undergoing major construction. I'm assuming normal construction delays would be a few minutes stopped here and there. Instead, Chicago has decided it's more efficient and effective to not only stop trains, but to keep them running no faster than 3 MPH. How do I know this? As the train from Midway got closer and closer to the loop (the trains come from all around Chicago and then merge on this giant track that loops around and above downtown), it got slower and slower... to the point that I watched a pedestrian below walk faster. I am also pretty sure that pedestrian had a walker.

I got to the stop I needed about 10-15 minutes before Becky and her lovely manfriend Evan got there. I headed down to street level and saw a lovely CVS. Not as if I'm speaking from personal experience or anything, but if you ever, for some reason, need a pair of underwear, some lady products, Shout wipes, etc., this is the place to go.

And after reading that last sentence, I realize what sort of situation that implies. NOT TRUE. Those were all necessities from separate trips and separate circumstances.

As I walk up to the checkout counter, who should come strolling in? Becky! I run over to her with my giant "Soul Rebel" bag on one shoulder, a box of lady things in the other hand, and hug her. The two of us are screaming and laughing and hugging and I look at Evan. I realize how absurd this looks. I wave at him, awkwardly, with my lady box hand. Becky takes one look at them and winks and "whispers" (nothing between me and B is ever just a "whisper") and says, "Oh, don't worry. I have tons of those I'm trying to give away."

We leave through the revolving door. B and Evan later explained to me that basically every building in Chicago uses revolving doors because in the winter, when it's absolutely freezing out, it keeps the warm air in and the cold air out. This is no good news for me since, as Big can attest to, I don't like touching doors. I always tell her to "push me through." I tell B the same thing, and she understands and gets a running head start to really give that sucker a big shove.

However, Evan and I have stopped walking because we see a man coming in... B runs on. As he is taking his first step, B slams into the door and sends it revolving, squishing him. Somehow caught with his lower body outside and his upper body inside, he's struggling to breathe and call out. B is confused and thinks the door is stuck (stuck on some trash, not stuck on a person. There's an 80% chance she wouldn't have pushed if she thought it was a person). She continues pushing until Evan points out that a man is stuck in the door. I am laughing and can't breathe. She apologizes. He thinks she is crazy and walks into CVS and hurries down an aisle.

One of the many reasons B and I are such good friends.