Plan a trip to Chicago and Wrigley Field. Now. Throw in the White Sox park if you can swing it, but as American institutions go, Chicago and Wrigley Field are musts.
The weather might not be as perfect as it was on July 29, 2009, but it won’t matter. And sure, you will probably be delayed if you fly, but there is something about this town that is so authentic. More than any other city, and despite all the modern conveniences, Chicago seems to do things today the way they did them decades ago. Wrigley Field is the best example of that.
When you go, go with an open mind. Wrigley Field has so much hype around it and as a result expectations need to be set accordingly. If you set yours lower than you think you should you will be properly prepared. The place has the capability to exceed any level of expectations as mine were on this day. However, there were a couple of things I did not expect to see that really made we wonder where the expectations need to be on getting the country back on the good foot.
Back To That Same Old Place
You may be surprised when you get to Wrigley Field as you will immediately recognize two things: 1. people like you who spend more time looking up, taking pictures and getting in the way of your early-20th-century-conceived sightline – and 2. the die hard Cub fans who pay attention to everything, stay to the end, and sing ‘Go Cubs Go’ after a Cubs win in a way that would make any North Korean card-stunt choreographer proud.
During my walk down from the upper deck something caught my eye. About two pivots before the main level concourse a Cubs Jersey wrapped in clear plastic hung from a hangar on the top of a handtruck in an unusually Joad-ian kind of way. Next to it – a sign – with a logo from a Bank whose name I will not reveal, but they have been in the news lately and they are all over America. Next to that was a table with multiple clipboards with pens and paper and plenty of room to divulge your household income in an effort to get more credit.
There can’t be a better place to do that than the place nicknamed the ‘Friendly Confines’, right?
Normally, booths like this are crowded and there is plenty of free stuff to be had. On this day, the hawker was pushing credit to only one person as I approached. She was older than I (another observation about Wrigley is that demographic has to skew older) and was regaled in Cubs hat and jersey.
“I didn’t think they did this anymore,” I said.
“Neither did I,” said the Cubs fan shrugging her shoulders. “I have been looking for something like this for a while.”
She then split, awaiting her card in the mail. So I pretended it was 2005.
“You guys still do this.”
“Oh yeah,” said the credit man. “It’s not like it was back in the old days, but we get anywhere from 2-5 people signing up a game.”
“What’s the rate?”
“High. It starts at like 11-and-a-quarter and goes all the way to…” I think he said 18 but I cannot remember exactly. I thought to myself if that’s high, then I better sign up for another credit card right now.
He went on selling. “If you sign up, after the first $75 you spend on the card you get a free Cubs Jersey just like this one.”
Ignoring the generous temptation, “That’s it?” I asked. “Do a lot of people sign up for this?”
“No. When we tell them they get the jersey after they spend they usually walk away. But before we would give away shirts, or hats, or coolers and people would sign up all the time. Now you have to spend to get the jersey and when people hear that they usually walk away.”
I did too.
Sweet Home Chicago
Pirani was born and raised in Pakistan. He came to Chicago as a young man and lived there for several years before he moved to Atlanta with his family to pursue business opportunities – all of which fell through. The latest venture was a Dunkin Donuts franchise his partners squeezed him out of. Racked with debt he is back in Chicago alone, driving a cab, and “working all the time” in order to get out of the hole.
He is a willing storyteller and while the pessimist’s pessimist (yours truly) is always on the lookout for tall tales to engender sympathy (read: a big tip), this narrative was pretty compelling. One story however did not mesh with something heard earlier in the day and it left me scratching my head looking in the middle of the two extremes trying to find the truth.
Cabs were our mode of transport to and from Wrigley. (When you go, take the L. Period.) On the way there our cab driver said he has at least one fare per day on Cub game days and generally has more than 10 per week. Recently, he did four-in-a-row one morning.
With my expectations set fairly high when I asked the same question to Pirani he said no. He said he hadn’t had a Cub fare in a while and that the city was dead, the hotels were empty and the visitor count would be a fraction of what it was in May.
That stadium was full. My hotel was too and a couple of others that we checked were close to full occupancy. Was Pirani pulling our leg? Was the city really that dead? Or was he looking so hard for fares that he couldn’t find any. It is difficult to say what is exactly happening on the ground either in Chicago or in any other place for that matter. It could have been a great story for that something extra.
Pirani and I do have one thing in common and that is we are both looking, albeit for different things. His daughter is getting married and he desperately wants to get back to Pakistan to see family. Our relative personal perspectives not withstanding, it has been my experience that often times things find you more than you find them. That’s why the expectations matter because one person’s high is another person’s low everything else drives you crazy.
Now, let’s get some runs!
In other news – The red-hot Cubs destroyed Mike Hampton and the Houston Astros 12-0. A six-run first punctuated by the three-run home run from Alfonso Soriano was all the Cubbies needed for the easy win. Pitcher Randy Wells threw eight shutout innings for Chicago. Also, my dad was at the game and that was pretty cool.
On the field, thanks to Jesse D. (l to r) Jesse J., Tom J., Jonathan, Jesse D.
Quote/Lyric credits: Fred Fisher, Robert Johnson, Harry Caray
Take the L.