I wrote this on 10/19/2018
In the last three years Covid has come and changed things up. It closed the trading floor that I worked on for five decades, 1980's through early 2020's. I no longer take the train into the Loop, but drive my 1997 Chevy Blazer to Oakbrook Terrace. It's a pleasant change at this point in my career. My trading jacket hangs on the back of a chair collecting dust. Also, my Dad passed away so my memories of him have a deeper meaning. He's gone with the last roll of CTA tokens.......
I bought a backpack.... I’ve never really carried a backpack to work on a regular basis. I always was the satchel guy.... briefcase guy!
I was pretty lucky when I first started working in the loop. I’d walk over to the Lake Street elevated Ridgeland stop with my dad. He carried a briefcase and looked uncomfortable.This is back in the day you’d buy a roll Of CTA tokens. He’d grab the Times and the Trib throw it in his briefcase and give the old guy in the booth his token. “Good morning Donald, you got your bodyguard with you this morning!” Everywhere we would go everyone knew my dad. Barbershop, the diner, the bank, the post office and the White Hen.
So I put a lunch in the front compartment.... no the second front compartment. My Cheater glasses, my keys, my flashlight and a couple pens are in the front. I slid a water bottle in one side holder and my coffee traveler in the other one. My tablet, and pad of paper and my library book are in the biggest compartment. I don’t know what I’ll put in the other twenty two compartments?
Well I’m sitting on the bench with my backpack waiting for the Metra. I wish my dad was here to see how uncomfortable I look! He’d probably say, “how much did you waste on that napsack?” And I’d have to tell him “It’s a backpack Dad!”
