Happy New Year

Well, it is a few days into the new year, and this is the first post on this site for 2010. Looking back over the posts for 2009, I realize that a lot of them had a negative tone. I don't feel there is really anything wrong with that, as the main purpose of this site is to highlight the struggles of messengers in Chicago. However, I would like to start off 2010 on a good note, and recognize some of the things that made being a messenger in Chicago great over the past year.

35E Wacker

A lot of time is spent on this site and at CCU meetings talking about how we are treated by different buildings throughout the city. A lot of the buildings treat messengers pretty bad, but there are also quite a few who treat messengers with dignity and respect. My personal favorite building in Chicago is 35E Wacker. It is one of the older skyscrapers in downtown, and this building harkens back to a time when architects cared about making beautiful buildings rather that glass-and-steel cubes. If you are a messenger, you can walk right into the front door like a real person and take the regular elevators up to whichever floor you need to go. The only time the security guard will talk to you is if you look lost, or are looking at the building directory. And they will try to help you get where you need to go. Another similar building is 225W Wacker. Messengers actually get treated better than business people in this building. I have walked up several times and had a guard slide me a keycard across the counter while a frustrated business man who feels entitled fumbles for his ID. And this only makes sense. I have seen these guards almost every day for the past four years. Why wouldn't we be friendly and have mutual respect for each other?
There are a few other people who brighten up a messengers day. The most important I can think of is Gina "the Pizza Lady". Even if I don't stop for a slice, it warms me up to see her smile and wave as I ride up Madison Street on a cold winter day. I don't think anyone in downtown Chicago cares about bike messengers as much as Gina. In a weird way, I always look foreward to seeing the guy that runs the sundries shop at the Thompson Center also.Whenever I buy a bag of chips or a soda, he asks how things are going and seems genuinely interested.
Going to the CMWC in Tokyo was probably the best part of being a messenger in 2009.It was pretty amazing to go to the other side of the world to celebrate being a part of the global messenger community.
There are a few other random things that come to mind when I think about being happy as a messenger in 2009. One is during the summer when it is slow, and I would clean up on the Hill. Often times I would go across Randolph Street to sit in Millenium Park to wait for more work. I never really knew what the schedule was, but sometimes on weekdays the Chicago Symphony Orchestra practices in the band shell at the park. It was always a pleasant surprise to find them practicing and lie down in the grass using my bag as a pillow, close my eyes, and listen to them until I got a call. Another fun thing about messengering in Chicago is bombing down Randolph Street off the hill across Michigan. Sometimes the light changes and you get the red as you are coming into the intersection. With a little skill and the knowledge of how the turn arrows are timed, you can easily and safely cut this light in front of about a hundred tourists, and feel like a bad-ass for a minute. Another little thing that made me happy over the past year was getting the high-paying, super-rush job from 222N LaSalle to 200N LaSalle. I was getting that run a couple of times a month last summer.
If you think of anything that made you really happy in 2009, feel free to leave a comment about it.