I took this picture as I left the office on Friday. |
As I
drove to work on Friday I had to keep telling myself that spring was finally
beginning and all of this will come to an end soon. The spring snow kept
falling throughout the day seemingly more intense every time I picked my head
up from my computer and looked out the window. Honestly, I was just thankful
that it was happening on Friday rather than over the weekend causing some kind
of delay in my travel plans.
When
I arrived in Chicago yesterday I looked at the forecast to see what the
temperature was going to be like over the next few days not thinking about the
possibility of precipitation. Of course, they were predicting some more spring
snow. It was going to be an interesting start to the week and to the trade
show.
I
woke up this morning wondering if the weather had blown through during the
night. When I opened the blinds it certainly hadn’t blown through, it was still
blowing. While there was only about 6 inches expected, the blizzard conditions
coming off of Lake Michigan made for an interesting adventure just walking
outside between buildings. The bus ride was interesting as well.
My boss took this picture from the bus as we made out way to ProMat this morning. |
In
addition to the disagreeable weather, the news was also reporting travel times
of nearly 2 ½ hours from the airport to downtown. With the sideways snow still
whipping through the air, we all anticipated at least a slow start to the show.
While the expected inundation at the gate may not have come to fruition it was
a surprisingly steady crowd and the morning saw a nice pace of interest at the
booth. Of course, it makes me wonder what could have been had we been fortunate
enough to have good weather.
With
the snow having stopped sometime during the day, we all headed back to the
hotel to put our feet up and relax for a few moments. After a few quick calls
and several emails, it was time to head back down to the lobby to meet up for
dinner. It is always a great feeling to get together at these moments with a
client after a successful day and before I knew it we departed the delectable
Park Grill and went our separate ways to reconvene in the morning.
Of
course, as many of my days have lately, there was an interesting moment that
concluded the night. As I was enjoying the surprisingly warmer evening (the
temperature had actually gone up since the morning) I was approached by a
rather gregarious man who was obsessed with my salt covered shoes. While
apprehensive upon our initial encounter we were able to converse a bit and I
eventually found out that I was talking with the Shoe Shine King of Michigan
Avenue.
While
I didn’t have much cash on me, only a couple dollars left from the day, he
insisted that my shoes needed to be shined. So out on the sidewalk in front of
the hotel, I put my foot on his knee and I ended up with shoes that haven’t
looked this good in years. An interesting end to a day that had a rather
interesting beginning. Hopefully, the shine lasts as long as the show.
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