Tuesday my son stepped on the train and used my husband's monthly Metra pass to ride into the city without aggravation.
I can't say I have had the same luck.
Who would have thought a monthly Metra pass would not be gender neutral?
Who would have thought it mattered whether a male or female butt took up a seat?
In the words of one of my dear friends "why does it matter whose (expletive) butt is in the seat if you have a monthly pass?"
"You can't use this pass,'' the conductor informed me last month when I attempted to meet my husband in the city.
"What?" I said, a bit embarrassed to be called out in front of peers in the quiet car. "You are female and the pass is marked male.
"$6.25 please."
I scrambled for change in my wallet and a little dignity.
My husband, who drove into the loop that day so we could drive home together after dinner, had given me his pass to "use" his Metra seat.
A nouveau-commuter, he had not noticed the M and F boxes at the top of the monthly pass. The M had been marked, with an X, with a permanent marker. My husband also had not noticed --as did I -- or chose to ignore -- as did I -- that the pass is not transferable.
Ten-day passes were always good for that purpose.
Unless you are a same-sex couple, or son of a father, or mother of a daughter, etc., a picky conductor is going to cramp your flexibility.
There is no photograph of the commuter or finger print to guarantee the monthly pass is not transferable. Just an M and a F and in this case a big X on the corner.
It does not matter how many times service is interrupted or discontinued due to weather during the ticket's tenure. It does not matter that you purchased ridership for 60-61 passages and you only really used 40 if you are consistently riding five times a week.
It did not matter that my husband did not ride into the loop the day he let me ride in.
It matters where the check is marked on the M or F space.
Of course if you purchase the monthly pass from a non-gender-discriminating machine instead of a ticket agent, or thru your company's Flex-Payroll program, it is not marked at all.
So earlier this month, with my husband's new unmarked-monthly pass in my pocket, I was going to attempt to use it and meet him in the loop.
I was surprised to see the same conductor approach me for my fare. I was afraid -- because I am a rule follower -- to hand her the unmarked pass. I was also afraid she would recognize me and confiscate my husband's $160 pass, or worse mark the F with permanent marker so he would have trouble using it the balance of the month.
I had my unfair fare, ready, in my sweaty palm.
"$5.75" she said, not making eye contact.
"Oh?" I said, thinking last time the same train, same time cost me more.
"$5.75"
I did not know if she was pegging me for a senior fare or if I had just experienced one of the reasons the rail line, which is still WIFIless in 2014 (a whole other blog), is in financial distress.
INCONSISTENCY, not people riding on other people's monthly passes.
I justified my not arguing up the fare with her by justifying in my head that the seat I was sitting in had already been paid for.
More than once.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Just how cold is it?
If there is one thing people in the Chicagoland area can agree on, it is that we are sick of the weather.
Sick of the snow.
Sick of the ice.
Sick of the slush.
Sick of the snow blower and shovel.
Sick of the slush freezing into more ice.
Sick of the salt-shortage stories.
Sick of the record-breaking snowfalls and temperatures.
Winter is not one category that I care to win a competition in.
Those of you hoping we will soon surpass the third snowiest winter statistics, get a hold of yourselves.
Watch what you wish for.
For those of you keeping track of our record-setting sub-zero days, knock it off.
Isn't one sub-zero day enough?
The only upside to the cold side of Chicago, is that crime drops.
Remember when the weather was on the 8s on the Weather Channel and at the 18-minute mark of the local news?
Now it is the lead, it is the center, it is the topic that makes the sports crew cram results into agate-sized air time.
Weather is breaking news. Something I don't understand since the TV stations forecast the impending storms for days before it becomes breaking news.
When we moved here 17 years ago from Florida, people thought we were crazy. My husband's former employer thought I was joking when I asked for a team of huskies and a full-length fur coat as part of our relocation package. After this gray, cold, snowy winter I am beginning to believe I am going crazy.
Life goes on in Chicagoland when it is winter. People here don't clear off the grocery store shelves for a two-day event like they do on the East Coast. Here they shovel paths to their barbecue grills.
While growing up in Philadelphia, schools closed on the first inch or two in a forecast (maybe because we walked to and from school back then). Our local schools here have closed a record four times this year. My friend Lynne in Virginia said her daughter has had more snow days since she moved there than Lynne, a native Chicagoan, had in her entire life.
Virginians, like Pennsylvanians, run to get bread and milk in the house just in case the weather would strand them.
My mom, before moving into assisted living and then passing away a year ago, was one of the worst offenders of that panic purchasing. She didn't even drink milk, but would have my sister or someone else rushing out, to make sure she had milk in the house.
You do not want milk, or a ton of other perishable provisions, in the house if you are going to lose power for a few days. My sister just found that out when she was plunged into polar darkness for nearly a week in her suburban Philly home.
Another perk of living in the Chicagoland area is you can keep your groceries in the car for hours while driving around or even days if the power goes out. Don't try that in Orlando. Even in winter (it was going to be 85 degrees there today).
While the weather here is killing the retail economy, travel agents are all a flutter. Despite our major airport canceling 7.5 percent of its flights this winter, people are getting out of Dodge. Why they have come back is beyond me.
My husband and I will make another attempt to visit friends in Arizona later this month. Our first plan to escape the weather here for a weekend, was foiled three weeks ago by a plane cancellation. I had the optimistic pedicure and everything packed when the flight notice came in that afternoon. Ironically, not a flake or flurry going on here or in Scottsdale that day. But the weather around the rest of the country mucked up our departure.
The airline called it an equipment problem. Maybe the equipment was snowed in on the East Coast and the aircraft could not get into Chicago.
Guaranteed blizzard later this month when we attempt to escape for Scottsdale II.
My friends in Florida, who have done periodic health checks on us this winter without making jokes about the weather, have offered to host us. We just have not been able to get there.
One of my dear friends asked what I've been doing to stay sane. I recently traded my Sebring Convertible for a new SUV so we can get over the end of the driveway, where the snowplows sock you in.
Even when it is cold and gray you have to get out of your house for fresh air. Sometimes I go out to get the mail. I have been going to the fitness center and Starbucks.
I drink a lot of coffee (decaf because my eyes have been twitching), I watch too much TV. I read, I nap, I snack, I have become a house cat. Sometimes I write.
Today my friend D and I went for a reflexology massages. Her birthday gift to me. It was a good way to get the circulation going and got me away from the house. I don't think I would have enjoyed the outing if I had been sweaty. It was a good plan to go on a day when you were numb walking into the business.
Yesterday, while eating fantastic charred grilled cheese sandwiches (just like the ones I make at home) and homemade soup (is there a better winter lunch?), at my friend Sarah's house, we made an executive decision to get out of her house, pick up our friend Joan, and go to the movies.
Twisted: Went to see a sing-along version of "Frozen." Just wasn't cold enough outside.
We were the only three people in the theater. We watched most of the credits before forcing ourselves to go back outside to the car.
Breaking news: It may hit 40 degrees here tomorrow.
Sad news: It could snow again Saturday.
Sick of the snow.
Sick of the ice.
Sick of the slush.
Sick of the snow blower and shovel.
Sick of the slush freezing into more ice.
Sick of the salt-shortage stories.
Sick of the record-breaking snowfalls and temperatures.
Winter is not one category that I care to win a competition in.
Those of you hoping we will soon surpass the third snowiest winter statistics, get a hold of yourselves.
Watch what you wish for.
For those of you keeping track of our record-setting sub-zero days, knock it off.
Isn't one sub-zero day enough?
The only upside to the cold side of Chicago, is that crime drops.
Remember when the weather was on the 8s on the Weather Channel and at the 18-minute mark of the local news?
Now it is the lead, it is the center, it is the topic that makes the sports crew cram results into agate-sized air time.
Weather is breaking news. Something I don't understand since the TV stations forecast the impending storms for days before it becomes breaking news.
When we moved here 17 years ago from Florida, people thought we were crazy. My husband's former employer thought I was joking when I asked for a team of huskies and a full-length fur coat as part of our relocation package. After this gray, cold, snowy winter I am beginning to believe I am going crazy.
Life goes on in Chicagoland when it is winter. People here don't clear off the grocery store shelves for a two-day event like they do on the East Coast. Here they shovel paths to their barbecue grills.
While growing up in Philadelphia, schools closed on the first inch or two in a forecast (maybe because we walked to and from school back then). Our local schools here have closed a record four times this year. My friend Lynne in Virginia said her daughter has had more snow days since she moved there than Lynne, a native Chicagoan, had in her entire life.
Virginians, like Pennsylvanians, run to get bread and milk in the house just in case the weather would strand them.
My mom, before moving into assisted living and then passing away a year ago, was one of the worst offenders of that panic purchasing. She didn't even drink milk, but would have my sister or someone else rushing out, to make sure she had milk in the house.
You do not want milk, or a ton of other perishable provisions, in the house if you are going to lose power for a few days. My sister just found that out when she was plunged into polar darkness for nearly a week in her suburban Philly home.
Another perk of living in the Chicagoland area is you can keep your groceries in the car for hours while driving around or even days if the power goes out. Don't try that in Orlando. Even in winter (it was going to be 85 degrees there today).
While the weather here is killing the retail economy, travel agents are all a flutter. Despite our major airport canceling 7.5 percent of its flights this winter, people are getting out of Dodge. Why they have come back is beyond me.
My husband and I will make another attempt to visit friends in Arizona later this month. Our first plan to escape the weather here for a weekend, was foiled three weeks ago by a plane cancellation. I had the optimistic pedicure and everything packed when the flight notice came in that afternoon. Ironically, not a flake or flurry going on here or in Scottsdale that day. But the weather around the rest of the country mucked up our departure.
The airline called it an equipment problem. Maybe the equipment was snowed in on the East Coast and the aircraft could not get into Chicago.
Guaranteed blizzard later this month when we attempt to escape for Scottsdale II.
My friends in Florida, who have done periodic health checks on us this winter without making jokes about the weather, have offered to host us. We just have not been able to get there.
One of my dear friends asked what I've been doing to stay sane. I recently traded my Sebring Convertible for a new SUV so we can get over the end of the driveway, where the snowplows sock you in.
Even when it is cold and gray you have to get out of your house for fresh air. Sometimes I go out to get the mail. I have been going to the fitness center and Starbucks.
I drink a lot of coffee (decaf because my eyes have been twitching), I watch too much TV. I read, I nap, I snack, I have become a house cat. Sometimes I write.
Today my friend D and I went for a reflexology massages. Her birthday gift to me. It was a good way to get the circulation going and got me away from the house. I don't think I would have enjoyed the outing if I had been sweaty. It was a good plan to go on a day when you were numb walking into the business.
Yesterday, while eating fantastic charred grilled cheese sandwiches (just like the ones I make at home) and homemade soup (is there a better winter lunch?), at my friend Sarah's house, we made an executive decision to get out of her house, pick up our friend Joan, and go to the movies.
Twisted: Went to see a sing-along version of "Frozen." Just wasn't cold enough outside.
We were the only three people in the theater. We watched most of the credits before forcing ourselves to go back outside to the car.
Breaking news: It may hit 40 degrees here tomorrow.
Sad news: It could snow again Saturday.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Movie Madness
I have seen every movie this year that has been nominated for a major Academy Award.
I dragged my husband to the animation short films yesterday at our local arts theater.
I made my friend go back there with me this morning to see the live action nominated short films.
I do not go to the movies as an excuse to eat fresh popcorn.
I go to the movies because I love the movies.
I got the movie-loving gene from my late mom.
I know I have passed it on to my daughter who, when in the same zip code as me on Christmas Day, shares in the tradition of a movie triple header and Chinese food. We deviated from that this year -- the Chinese food -- and are putting it back to committee for a vote next year.
So here are my selections, in the categories people care about -- my apologies to the documentaries and best foreign language films -- before the stars saunter down the Red Carpet and dear Ellen DeGeneres entertains us for three-plus hours.
The envelope please:
Animated feature film: Frozen
Best animated short: Room on The Broom - UK
Best live action short: Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn't Me) -Espana
Best supporting actor: Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club
Best supporting actress: Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
Best actor: Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street
Best actress: Cate Blanchette - Blue Jasmine
Best director: Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity
Best picture: 12 Years a Slave
Off to make popcorn!!!
I dragged my husband to the animation short films yesterday at our local arts theater.
I made my friend go back there with me this morning to see the live action nominated short films.
I do not go to the movies as an excuse to eat fresh popcorn.
I go to the movies because I love the movies.
I got the movie-loving gene from my late mom.
I know I have passed it on to my daughter who, when in the same zip code as me on Christmas Day, shares in the tradition of a movie triple header and Chinese food. We deviated from that this year -- the Chinese food -- and are putting it back to committee for a vote next year.
So here are my selections, in the categories people care about -- my apologies to the documentaries and best foreign language films -- before the stars saunter down the Red Carpet and dear Ellen DeGeneres entertains us for three-plus hours.
The envelope please:
Animated feature film: Frozen
Best animated short: Room on The Broom - UK
Best live action short: Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn't Me) -Espana
Best supporting actor: Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club
Best supporting actress: Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
Best actor: Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street
Best actress: Cate Blanchette - Blue Jasmine
Best director: Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity
Best picture: 12 Years a Slave
Off to make popcorn!!!
Saturday, March 1, 2014
An Olympic Postpartum Posting
Is anyone else suffering from a post Winter Olympic Games hangover?
For more than a fortnight I have used my obsession for the games as an excuse for not sitting down to write this blog.
It was nice to be missed. My loyal readers at the fitness center and Starbucks, two of the few places I frequented during my personal DVRfest of winter sports, kept asking me why I wasn't updating the blog.
I won't miss living on the edge of spoiler alerts and early A.M. wake up calls to watch prelim events that really misled me as to the outcome of medal rounds. But I will miss the "live'' competition.
Have I mentioned I always wanted to report on an Olympics, before retiring from the newspaper business? Oh, yeah I think I did.
I'm sure I will mention it again before I retire from this blog.
I need to get over it the way Shaun White (my wayward pretend professional snowboarding son) has gotten over not medaling at the Sochi experience.
My real son and I, avid X-Game followers, knew what tricks White honed on the half pipe before the sport took off in popularity and all the current medalists cut their teeth on White's tricks.
Of course I would always tell my real son not to try any of the snowboarding or skateboarding tricks at home. I let him live vicariously through the gravity defying feats we watched on TV.
White, not my real son who is premed boy plodding through midterms in the South for another week, seemed to be back to normal on his visit with Jimmy Fallon this week on "The Tonight Show."
I figured White, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, who holds the X-Games records for gold medals and highest overall medal count, would pick himself up. He was still thrilled - despite pulling out of one event due to course conditions and finishing off the medal stand in his favored event - to be at the Olympics and a member of the team.
While I'm on White and the Olympics, I want to mention something my real son mentioned that he learned this semester in his Ancient Athletes history class.
When the Olympics were first organized, they only gave out gold medals.
Don't go intimating that your local Olympians and national treasures are losers or disappointments because they came home with silver and bronze medals. For crying out loud, they got to go to the Olympics.
They still don't give participation trophies for going to the Olympic Games. You do, however, get a lot of clothing, photos and memories. And once you are an Olympic athlete, you are always an Olympic athlete.
In some sports the odds are stacked against the athletes because of scoring systems that no one really understands. Why does everyone always act so surprised when there is controversy in the skating competitions?
I was never going to let my children participate in sports where adults could subjectively mar them for life. In this house you raced against the clock, had to make the basket, had to hit the ball or the birdie. Okay, there were a few missed calls behind the plate and at the badminton boundary lines over the years, but we kept it in perspective that our children were not playing in the Olympics. The Olympics ARE NOT an easy level to advance to if you are an American playing badminton.
Going to the Olympics IS NOT an easy feat for any athlete to achieve. Although some of the Scandinavian and German families, who come back year after year, from much smaller countries, have figured something out.
Americans have figured out how to win lots of medals in non-traditional events -- especially ones we invent.
Speaking of the Wheaties "Breakfast of Champions" box, American gold medalists free-style snowboarder Sage Kotsenburg and alpine skier Mikaela Shiffren are on the 2014 boxes.
Shiffren, 18, became the youngest Olympian to ever win her event. Kostenburg won the first ever gold medal in men's snowboard slope style.
Despite their awesome achievements, I wondered if they would have been displaced if the men's and women's ice hockey teams had won gold medals?
Today I was picking up my husband's pants at the dry cleaners and saw Olympic hockey jerseys on the carousel. Hoping there was not a HIPA agreement on dry cleaning, I asked the woman behind the counter if they might belong to one of our hometown Olympic heroes, or her family members. Even after looking at the name on the tag she had no idea.
I'm moving on.
For more than a fortnight I have used my obsession for the games as an excuse for not sitting down to write this blog.
It was nice to be missed. My loyal readers at the fitness center and Starbucks, two of the few places I frequented during my personal DVRfest of winter sports, kept asking me why I wasn't updating the blog.
I won't miss living on the edge of spoiler alerts and early A.M. wake up calls to watch prelim events that really misled me as to the outcome of medal rounds. But I will miss the "live'' competition.
Have I mentioned I always wanted to report on an Olympics, before retiring from the newspaper business? Oh, yeah I think I did.
I'm sure I will mention it again before I retire from this blog.
I need to get over it the way Shaun White (my wayward pretend professional snowboarding son) has gotten over not medaling at the Sochi experience.
My real son and I, avid X-Game followers, knew what tricks White honed on the half pipe before the sport took off in popularity and all the current medalists cut their teeth on White's tricks.
Of course I would always tell my real son not to try any of the snowboarding or skateboarding tricks at home. I let him live vicariously through the gravity defying feats we watched on TV.
White, not my real son who is premed boy plodding through midterms in the South for another week, seemed to be back to normal on his visit with Jimmy Fallon this week on "The Tonight Show."
I figured White, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, who holds the X-Games records for gold medals and highest overall medal count, would pick himself up. He was still thrilled - despite pulling out of one event due to course conditions and finishing off the medal stand in his favored event - to be at the Olympics and a member of the team.
While I'm on White and the Olympics, I want to mention something my real son mentioned that he learned this semester in his Ancient Athletes history class.
When the Olympics were first organized, they only gave out gold medals.
Don't go intimating that your local Olympians and national treasures are losers or disappointments because they came home with silver and bronze medals. For crying out loud, they got to go to the Olympics.
They still don't give participation trophies for going to the Olympic Games. You do, however, get a lot of clothing, photos and memories. And once you are an Olympic athlete, you are always an Olympic athlete.
In some sports the odds are stacked against the athletes because of scoring systems that no one really understands. Why does everyone always act so surprised when there is controversy in the skating competitions?
I was never going to let my children participate in sports where adults could subjectively mar them for life. In this house you raced against the clock, had to make the basket, had to hit the ball or the birdie. Okay, there were a few missed calls behind the plate and at the badminton boundary lines over the years, but we kept it in perspective that our children were not playing in the Olympics. The Olympics ARE NOT an easy level to advance to if you are an American playing badminton.
Going to the Olympics IS NOT an easy feat for any athlete to achieve. Although some of the Scandinavian and German families, who come back year after year, from much smaller countries, have figured something out.
Americans have figured out how to win lots of medals in non-traditional events -- especially ones we invent.
Speaking of the Wheaties "Breakfast of Champions" box, American gold medalists free-style snowboarder Sage Kotsenburg and alpine skier Mikaela Shiffren are on the 2014 boxes.
Shiffren, 18, became the youngest Olympian to ever win her event. Kostenburg won the first ever gold medal in men's snowboard slope style.
Despite their awesome achievements, I wondered if they would have been displaced if the men's and women's ice hockey teams had won gold medals?
Today I was picking up my husband's pants at the dry cleaners and saw Olympic hockey jerseys on the carousel. Hoping there was not a HIPA agreement on dry cleaning, I asked the woman behind the counter if they might belong to one of our hometown Olympic heroes, or her family members. Even after looking at the name on the tag she had no idea.
I'm moving on.
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