Saturday 9

 Saturday 9: So Much to Say

1) The lyrics refer to a baby's "one year of crying." When was the last time you cried ... felt weepy ... or at least teared up? This is going to make me sound like such a geek, but that's OK because I am a geek: The ending of the movie Lincoln. As he leaves for Ford's Theater, the President tells his household staff, "I have to go, but I wish could stay." Then the final scene is a flashback to his second inaugural speech from several months earlier, "With malice toward none, with charity toward all ..." What a beautiful soul that man had! 

It makes me sad to realize that some modern-day people get just as angry today when a President speaks out and begins a dialog on moral issues of our time. (Yes, it still confuses me that somehow participating in an open conversation about race makes our first African-American President guilty of "race baiting." Obama said nothing from that podium that my white-collar black and brown male friends haven't said to me privately. George W. Bush didn't receive a lot of kudos recently for trying to discuss immigration reform, either.) What's wrong with shining a light on these topics and discussing them? That is, after all, part of the President's job.

2) Let's lighten it up a little. When was the last time you laughed really hard? Last weekend with my niece. She now lives in a college town/vacation community and I told her I wanted to send postcards from her bucolic new neighborhood. As I was spinning the rack, she grabbed three and said, "Send these. It's a great shot of my campus. It's where I spend every weekday." When we stopped at a coffee shop for me to message the cards, I noticed that the three she chose weren't her campus at all, but the municipal building down the street. When I figured it out, I handed her one of the cards and asked, "Where is it you spend every weekday?" Once our eyes locked we couldn't stop giggling.

3) Do you have "so much to say" that hasn't been said yet? Tell us if you owe someone a phone call, note, email or text. My aunt, my cousin and a good friend have all recently sent missives and I owe them all responses. Just now I realize that all my return messages are going to Florida -- Clearwater, Tampa and Key West.

4) Earlier this summer, Dave took a bike ride before a show and his tire blew out. He didn't have a cell phone with him and was afraid of missing that night's performance. Fortunately two fans -- driving to see Dave Matthews Band in concert -- recognized him by the side of the road and gave him a ride to the show. Share a recent act of kindness you either did, or received. This past week, a homeless man on the el platform asked me for $4 so he could get a sandwich. I told him I couldn't/wouldn't take my wallet out, right there in public, and that I can't afford to give $4 to everyone who asks. I did give him all the change in pocket, which wasn't much, and then I listened to him. He told me it was scary to sleep in the park and that his stomach hurt after days of not eating. I told him that Wednesdays my church sponsors a walk-in ministry with free lunch, but it was only Tuesday. I know he would have preferred the $4, but I do think it helped him to have someone make eye contact with him and listen. I know it helped me to hear him, too. These people are our neighbors, after all. We lose a bit of our humanity when we pretend they're invisible or that it couldn't happen to us.

5) Before he hit it big, Dave Matthews was a bartender. What job did you have right before the one you have now? I was a writer, just like I am now, just at a different agency.

6) The Dave Matthews Band recorded an album live at the Red Rocks Amphitheater, in the mountains near Denver. Is there a trip to the mountains in your future? Chicagoland is flat as flat can be. I don't see a mountain visit in my future any time soon.

7) Do you suffer from hay fever or allergies? Yes, I have a few allergies.
 
8) What's in your pocket right now? A balled-up tissue and a receipt from CVS.

9) American Express promotes "Small Business Saturday," and encourages us to shop at local, independent retailers. Is there a shop, boutique or restaurant in your town that you're particularly fond of? Delia's Kitchen. There's always been a restaurant in this spot, for as long as I can remember, but this is the best one. Delicious breakfasts!