The thrill of daily adventures

My move downtown has placed me back into a world of public transit, and with public transit comes many of stories. When public transit and Chicago's CTA/Ventra card can't transport you all the way there, you are forced to resort to cabs or Uber.

After flying a lot over the past few weeks, my standard procedure to return to the city from O'Hare airport is to take the Blue Line back in the direction of the city, then finish the journey with a 3-mile cab ride eastward. Except I've encountered a minor issue: there are virtually no cabs for hire at the train station. The area is full of buses, cars and cabs, but many are occupied since it is right near the highway exit.

Yesterday evening as I was trying to hail a cab, a man and a woman behind me in business attire caught the eye of the cab driver crossing over first. My frustration (partially from a delayed flight, partially from a competitive spirit) got the best of me and I gave them a dirty look, to which the man noticed.

Him: Oh, were you trying to catch a cab? [Not giving up his]
Me: Yup. [Clearly, why I'm in front of you in this line of people trying to catch taxis]
Him: Well where are you going? [Imagine: sense of guilt]
[We exchange our locations and realize we're going a block apart]
Him: Oh, we're close, do you want to share?
Me: Sure, why not.

So the three of us (the man, his female coworker and I) get in the cab and they even gave me the front seat. I explained to the cab driver what we were doing, and we all chatted for the 3-mile drive down Belmont that turns into 20 minutes in bumper-to-bumper traffic. The two of them moved from San Diego and Seattle respectively, both of which I've been to in the past year. They work in sales & events for a hotel by O'Hare and are new to the Chicago area. While they gave me insights into their cities and occupation, I gave them insights to mine. It was pretty fun to meet some neighbors and have some people to chat with outside of existing friends or a business setting. In fact, by the end of the ride, we exchanged business cards. 

Some of you might say "Only you would do that," but hey - I wasn't the one to offer. I'm always up for economic efficiency by sharing (meals, cabs, etc.), and this situation shows that you can even get some networking, fun conversation or just city experience doing so. After the ease and relaxed nature of an interaction like this, look out for more city living adventures on the blog (with safety and precautions considered, obviously)!