And the first award...
And the award for world's friendliest convenience store dude goes to. . . .
The little guy at the Oak Lawn Mart at Oak Lawn and Congress.
Twice now, when I've stopped in to get a bottle/can of juice on the way to work, that guy has veritably showered me with hellos and good mornings and the like. Last week, I even got a fascinating insight into the challenges of reopening a convenience store (I promise, I'm not being sarcastic).
Upon asking him what proportion of his sales beer and wine account for, I got a rather intriguing answer:
Anyway, it's amazing how much more fun it is to stop in there than the 7-11 around the corner, which always seems to be manned by unenthusiastic drones who hate their job. I guess it all depends on whether you're working for the man or being the man.
Oak Lawn Mart dude, you are The Man.
* * *
At lunch today, not wanting to participate in the rather dismal and scary looking sock-hop soda-fountain thing the cafe had decided to put on (jukebox and all — picture it: a dozen tired foodservice employees in 50s garb, meandering around about a dozen or so downtrodden-looking IT professionals who care as little about a jukebox belting out Chubby Checker tunes as anything else going on), I decided it was a perfect opportunity to escape the building, for only the second chance so far since we moved back here (too many busy days and brown-bag lunch meetings), to pursue a dining adventure elsewhere.
After aimlessly driving around the neighborhood a bit, trying to decide what sounded appetizing, I settled on the Green Pepper, a relatively new little Thai-inspired fast food restaurant at the very northern end of Oak Lawn.
Oh how I missed uptown.
The Thai Pineapple Fish made my day oh so much easier to swallow, so to speak. And for only $6. Can't beat that deal with a stick.
Did I mention I missed working in uptown? I so totally did.
Coming back into the office, I passed a couple of workers (apparently on their way down to the cafe) who asked how the sock-hop shindig was, and, smiling my best pineapple fish grin at them (well, not literally, as that would be kind of gross — perhaps "pineapple fish-inspired grin" would have been a better choice of words), I answered, "Went out for some yummy Thai food instead. Put a dime in the jukebox for me, eh?"
The little guy at the Oak Lawn Mart at Oak Lawn and Congress.
Twice now, when I've stopped in to get a bottle/can of juice on the way to work, that guy has veritably showered me with hellos and good mornings and the like. Last week, I even got a fascinating insight into the challenges of reopening a convenience store (I promise, I'm not being sarcastic).
See the coffee machine? It come in this morning.
Automated Teller come here next week. Also money order machine. Then we really cooking, yes?
Then week after finally get beers and wines. Everything be okay then.
Upon asking him what proportion of his sales beer and wine account for, I got a rather intriguing answer:
Oh not so much. But person come in to buy the beer, he sometime hungry and, you know, buy the chip, buy the candy, buy the smoke. . . party time! Ha ha. You know.
Anyway, it's amazing how much more fun it is to stop in there than the 7-11 around the corner, which always seems to be manned by unenthusiastic drones who hate their job. I guess it all depends on whether you're working for the man or being the man.
Oak Lawn Mart dude, you are The Man.
* * *
At lunch today, not wanting to participate in the rather dismal and scary looking sock-hop soda-fountain thing the cafe had decided to put on (jukebox and all — picture it: a dozen tired foodservice employees in 50s garb, meandering around about a dozen or so downtrodden-looking IT professionals who care as little about a jukebox belting out Chubby Checker tunes as anything else going on), I decided it was a perfect opportunity to escape the building, for only the second chance so far since we moved back here (too many busy days and brown-bag lunch meetings), to pursue a dining adventure elsewhere.
After aimlessly driving around the neighborhood a bit, trying to decide what sounded appetizing, I settled on the Green Pepper, a relatively new little Thai-inspired fast food restaurant at the very northern end of Oak Lawn.
Oh how I missed uptown.
The Thai Pineapple Fish made my day oh so much easier to swallow, so to speak. And for only $6. Can't beat that deal with a stick.
Did I mention I missed working in uptown? I so totally did.
Coming back into the office, I passed a couple of workers (apparently on their way down to the cafe) who asked how the sock-hop shindig was, and, smiling my best pineapple fish grin at them (well, not literally, as that would be kind of gross — perhaps "pineapple fish-inspired grin" would have been a better choice of words), I answered, "Went out for some yummy Thai food instead. Put a dime in the jukebox for me, eh?"