Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Chicago

This past weekend Steve and I attended an absolutely wonderful conference in Chicago (actually Hoffman Estates). It was all day Thursday and Friday and half of Saturday so after partaking of the pizza Chicago is famous for, we managed to make it downtown -- no small feat -- and enjoyed a few of the other things Chicago is famous for.

I was struck by several things but one of the biggest in my mind is that the same city contained the rudest people I've ever encountered, specifically those on the road, and also some of the nicest people I've ever encountered. One guy in particular stands out -- we were on the train going downtown only to discover after our stop never came that the train we were using was not going where it was supposed to due to upgrades on the tracks. It would've been nice to have been informed BEFORE we boarded. Anyway, this one guy, who was from there, was also unaware so we all got off at the next stop and as the 4 Montanans were wondering what the heck to do now, he disappeared. We finally found the stairs to go under the tracks to the other side and board to go back. I was in the front and as I stepped down the 3rd step, here comes that guy and he said "I was just coming to get you guys. I asked the lady down here for directions and she told me what to do." He then walked us down to the bus station to catch the train shuttle. I was dumbfounded that this complete stranger watched out for us. I have no idea who he was and probably will never see him again but God definitely placed him in our path.
(The first picture is Steve on the pier and of course you knew I'd have to include a picture of a lighthouse, right?)

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