circling

I woke up feeling quite refreshed today. I was tempted to sleep a little bit longer until I felt my heart sink down to my stomach as I realized I forgot to move my car last night from the tow zone it was parked in.

Hear me out, responsible loved ones who want me to make wise choices... it wasn't a tow zone when I parked there. It became a tow zone the following morning at 7:00am when the high school I live across from takes up ownership of that whole side of the street until at least 4:30pm.

"Maybe by some shear miracle they didn't tow me," I optimistically thought to myself. As I put on my jacket and grabbed my keys I thought about it more... "yea right, the city of Chicago not make money off of me... hah!"

With a city in as deep of debt as Chicago, the people who work for the city become like vultures, scouting the streets for their next victim. I know this to be true since this is my 3rd time being towed since moving to the city last November. I won't mention the number of parking tickets.

People always ask, "how do you like Chicago?" I always answer the same, "other than parking and the weather, I love it."

Sure enough, I get to the street and my car is gone. Man, I love that feeling first thing in the morning! It just sets the pace for the whole day. I was so excited to figure out where it was towed to, how much it was going to cost, and how I was going to get there before going to work this afternoon. So many mysteries lay ahead of me.

The funny thing is, I'm being half serious. Someone once told me that life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it. So in an attempt to change my attitude, I decided to play a little game... "who's got JJ's car?"

As it turns out, the city owns this place called "lower hell" on Lower Wacker Drive where it takes all of it's victims. Part of what is so hellish about this place is that it's impossible to find. Even if you get to Lower Wacker and see a bunch of parked cars, you can't figure out how to get to where those parked cars are. It's like circling a giant snow globe and so desperately wanting to get in while knowing that it's impossible.

So, the first attempt happened before work today. My roommate took me to the address I was given and sure enough, we can't find it. Not only can we not find it, we are led to an exit on the highway instead of the parking lot of a towing company. We take the exit, seeing as it is our only option, and decide she will take me to work for now and I will try to figure out how to get it later. I keep hearing the guy's voice in my head, "You have until 12:01 tonight or the charge goes up $10."

It's now 8:15pm, and I still don't have my car. I got off of work, made a few phone calls and realized the reason most other people don't get towed is because they don't have cars. I'm tempted to leave it there, but I'm sure it could be used for something more enjoyable like a derby demolition.

I'm not too thrilled about the thought of taking the train and walking down Lower Wacker late at night, by myself, but I keep it in the back of my mind as a last resort.

And for now, I wait. I've left a few messages for people, scolding them for screening my phone call and then asking them to do me a favor. Hopefully they will feel touched by my sincerity and jump at the thought of taking me across town to lower hell.

I don't really have a point to this story, other than to say I agree with what that person told me... "life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it." Yea, it's frustrating to have to figure all of this out, but it's not a crisis and it's not out of my control. I have a slight headache, but for the most part I'm really not too worried about it, and it didn't ruin my day. Take that, city of Chicago, I hope you use my money wisely!

I guess it's also important for me to make one other point of this story for the sake of sounding responsible, since there are people who trust me with their children...

NEVER park in a tow zone... no matter how special you think you are.