Yesterday as apart of my weekly tutoring sessions, a student of mine Patrick and I are learning how to ride the El and head downtown to Chicago from Evanston, in order to visit the Epilepsy Association of Chicago.So our trip started slow yesterday, due to the inclement weather, and we were both laughing at how slow the day was feeling, due to the slow journey of the train! The train started to fill up around Belmont (my stop!) and this older gentlemen got on (gentleman..a term I will use very loosely). So me being an agile (yet not very coordinated) young man , I offer my seat to him, next to Patrick, to which I have barked back in my face ' NO. NO I don't WANT to sit down'. Now if said man had quietly said this to me, even with a slight smile on his face, or recognition of someone doing something polite, it would have been cool. Instead he raised his voice, made no eye contact and tried to embarrass me in front of the rest of the carriage. This prompted a response from me of 'that is fine, no problem at all, but did you really have to be THAT rude about it!?? Older people today!' (this is is retaliation to the fact that it is usually the younger population that are seriously lacking in manners, and we are quick to jump on them!) The response I got?? A huff and a view of his old back.
Mine was not the only 'random act of public transport' kindness to be thrown back in ones face. A girlfriend Sara received a similar response to an older man as she offered her seat to him on her commute on the bus! Wonder if cranky old fart gets around?? Or is there something in the air???
Some other random happenings from yesterday:
- I still have trouble with mirrored walls in department stores, walking into one as I took Patrick around Old Navy. For some reason my brain doesn't like to register that it is a mirror in front of me, and not a thoroughfare.
- I start a new part time job on Monday, back in the wonderful world of Ticketing with the Chicago Symphony. The Arts. Its like a drug...highly addictive, bad for you, but for some reason, is embedded in your psyche as apart of your life forever!
Song of The Day:
Addicted - Amy Winehouse
Just - Mark Ronson feat Alex Greenwald
Walk This Way - Girls Aloud V's Sugababes
