Backstory:
-- I'm doing an internship with Chick-Fil-A's (CFA) information technology department at their international office
-- Dan Cathy, President and CEO of CFA, invited myself and a few other interns to join us to Chicago for a CFA restaurant grand opening
-- Grand Openings are a big deal at CFA
So. T-minus 4 days till takeoff for Chicago, myself and the other interns knew almost nothing about how the trip was supposed to work, and the person that we were supposed to be communicating with about it (the intern supervisor for the summer) was headed out to Florida for the entire week -- she was totally outside of communications. Here's what we knew:
-- Bring a sleeping bag.. if it's raining.
-- If it's not raining.. you won't be able to use it
-- If it's not raining.. you will be sleeping outside
-- if it is raining.. you will be sleeping inside with the sleeping bag that we may or may not be able to fit on the plane
-- If we can't fit it on the plane.. you will be sleeping on concrete
Basically, that's how the progression went. The rules were like this for everything: dress code, arrival times, directions.. You name if. If you are confused, that's what I was going for: that's how we felt, too. Basically, we kept recieving cryptic emails of that nature that really didn't help prepare us whatsoever for the trip.
Don't worry. That was fine. We at least knew where to be and at what time.
On the day that we were leaving, my friend Andrew and I carpooled down to the airport where CFA had their corporate hangar. Yeah. Corporate hangar. How cool is that? Inside of the hangar/office, were contained two corporate jets. After getting some clarification from the on site staff, we boarded the jet. There were nine of us going, and nine spots on the jet. 4 spots in front, 5 spots in back. It was pretty cool: often we'd be sitting there on the jet, glancing around, grinning, and mouthing to each other, "What the crap are we doing here," and "HOLY-cow!" It was during this stage of bewilderment that Dan came over, plopped down on the ground near our feet, and struck up a conversation about our workdays yesterday. That was a little bizarre.
We landed. Drove. Sat in traffic. Drove a few feet. (yes, feet). And Sat in traffic more until we got to the corner of Chicago and Wabash streets where the new CFA was located.
Alright. Now we're starting to get to the streets of Chicago. Sorry about all that detail.
The confusion continued. Because all of the employees were on a mission to make sure that everything was ready to go, they were doing all sorts of training, and really had no information to give us or tasks to assign to us. The night turned into us waiting around to be told what to do. Poor little interns.
Eventually, the first 100 people showed up that would each earn their free CFA sandwiches for a year. Once they did, their mission was to camp out, in front of the restaurant, on the streets of Chicago, all night long. Normally, people would be allowed to bring tents and chill out inside of them, but since we were in the middle of the city, and we couldn't get permits to section off the street, that was not allowed. For anyone. So people just brought chairs and sleeping mats and chilled on the side of the street. In much his own fashion, Dan grabbed his sleeping bag and air mattress, plopped down in the middle of the line, and joined them. (he was out within 10 minutes-- it was crazy impressive.) Myself and a few others decided that it would be an awesome option to join him. We did.
So. Here I am. Laying on a wet, cement sidewalk in the middle of Chicago, staring off into the sky/skyscrapers, and wondering, "What the crap am I doing here?" It was a very weird experience. But it kept getting weirder.
We were accosted by the following people:
..A drunk chick, that was so bewildered by the scene that she proceeded to tell us about how she got hammered because the kid that she was babysitting was very frustrating.
..A gay couple, that was so excited to see a CFA that the less drunk of the two stated that, "I know you guys are Christians, but I rounded that corner and said to ___name here___ Holy f***!, they're putting in a CFA??" (I could barely contain myself because it was so hilarious.)
..A homeless man that was very confused (and so very high) that one of the attending police officers almost had to escort the man away.
..A very, very large woman, that was up so late that she decided that she would take her pet Hedgehog out for a stroll. Yes. Hedgehog.
It was during all this that I managed to find some rest. But, I just wanted to let you know a little bit about my interesting experience on the streets of Chicago.
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