I am highly favored to wake up and experience a day like this. It didn't start off too extraordinary, just an english muffin for breakfast and Windy City Live on television before work.
Less than an hour into my work day and I am approached by a bearded stranger named Marvin. Marvin is looking for a book about diets for your blood type to give to his cousin. We don't have it but I went ahead and put in the order for him. You would think that would be the end of the story, but Marvin doesn't see it that way. He keeps smiling and talking and my interest is piqued. I wish that you all could see him, he has a medium build, just jeans, baseball hat and a t-shirt, a FULL beard, a bald head (I bet he used to have locs) with a very nice smile, a patterned Hezbollah type of scarf, a little kabbalah string around his wrist and an arrowhead charm around his neck. Something about him was instantly nostalgic and familiar. He looks like he jumped off an Al Green album cover from 1976, pointing and grinning. I could see him in the 80's, hanging out on an air force base with my dad in Germany, with little gym shorts and tall striped tube socks.
We talked about Chicago, family, and balancing work and school. When he called his cousin to tell her about the book and other random family information, he handed me the phone. I talked to his cousin for almost 10 minutes. Her name is Shekentha, and she thinks that we should all go out for coffee soon and she invited me to her birthday party. I told her that her cousin kept smiling at me and I didn't know what to do about it, she said his smile does have that effect on people. This man is a trip. Before we exchanged numbers he explained that his schedule is jam packed and he prefers texting with people, so I won't be holding my breath on any extended late night conversations. It was nice to connect to someone today, it really was one of the highlights.
When I picked up my phone at lunch time, I saw that I had a missed call from the Johnson Publishing Company, they offered me the job!! There it is, two birds in the hand. I can work at the bookstore and the archives, giving myself a little more financial stability. First thing in the morning, I will be calling Coleman and Rebecca and withdrawing myself for consideration. Those will be tough calls because I feel like they might have staked their reputations in support of me, I suppose it is better to let them know sooner than later. I had a great talk in the lunch room with Brittany and Curtis.
When I get back to the trade desk, I am asked to look up a few books for a Mr. Wayne Winter. We didn't have his books but he said that he would be remiss if he didn't ask me which church I go to. I explained my situation and how I have been exploring different options in Hyde Park, he said that his was non-denominational and they had services at the Illinois Institute of Technology on Sunday mornings. I will definitely be checking that one out. He gave me his wife's phone number in case I wanted to talk to someone about religion in the meantime. I thought that was very kind of him, it let me know it was really about the religion and nothing tawdry.
The last king to visit me was Mr. Ford who had plans to recruit me in his entrepreneur training program. He asked me about college and how I felt about making money in new ways. I told him that I wasn't business oriented, but that was a nice sales pitch. Then he got a little indignant and said it wasn't a pitch, he was just trying to prepare young people for this tricky economy and show them how to become independently wealthy. I wished him luck and said that I would call when his books arrived. The rest of the afternoon was uneventful, other than the fact that my favorite pack of cookies experienced a price hike. They added one cookie to the sleeve and raised the price 20 cents, which was embarrassing for me when my dollar didn't cut it, it is good that I am down with the cafe crew. I bet that Caitlyn would not have been able to walk away with those cookies like I did.
I'm still pushing through my Susanna Clarke novel, and ABC Wednesdays didn't disappoint. Today was definitely a good day.
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