Did you ever have one of those totally normal, innocent conversations that jarred awake random memories from deep inside of you? Like, you were on a normal path and then something slammed you into another dimension that seems normal but feels just a little bit off, like everything is moved slightly to the left...?
Moo and I were just talking about wanting bagels and how the 12:05 Cubs game is ruining our chance to go to Einstein Bro's Bagels before she has to go off to work. And then she asked what kind of bagel and cream cheese did/would I want. And I was overwhelmed with these memories.
When I was 9 or 10ish, I used to occasionally go to work with my step dad's step mom (with whom we do not speak anymore- that's another long story...) and we would take the Brown line train from Western to somewhere downtown. And that train ride always thrilled and scared me because the Brown line is one that was built after the apartments (and skyscrapers?) so at times it zig-zags so close to brick you feel like it might slam into a wall at any minute. And right where we got off there was this amazing bagel shop. And they had all this amazing fresh cream cheese. And I always got either chives or strawberry (and once this fancy mixed wildberry) and a bagel and an orange juice. Then I would go sit at an empty desk in my grandma's office and write and doodle and read. I still remember the smell of that place. And how the lights always seemed like they wanted to be just a little bit brighter. I don't remember what building she worked in, or even watch she did. But that building was right along a branch of the Chicago River and when V.I. Warshawski was filmed they could watch it out the window. Later when there was that horrible city water main brake, their basement floors would be flooded and no one had to go to work until the foundations were inspected. There were those strange rubber mats on the floor and not a lot of windows in the room I sat in. But it didn't bother me since I've always been sort of afraid of heights. I just sat there with my bagel and my pen and paper and made up weird memos and let all the office ladies coo over me. It was different than when I went to work with my mom when I was 3-5 and she worked in the old lady hair salon in Skokie. At that place I would sit in the empty chair near my mom and pretend I was going to do hair one day. All the waiting old man husbands would give me candy and stuffed animals; I was the community granddaughter. And the messenger. My mom and the receptionist had this joke feud going on and would send me back and forth with insults for one another. My mom was only about 25, younger than I am now. I remember one time my mom had me go tell the lady that she had thunder thighs and I didn't get it but thought it sounded really funny and it made her really mad. I had to take naps on a folding cot in the back storage room where the salon stereo blared 80's hits. Later my mom would work at a much fancier salon in Lincoln Park near the lake. I was in school by then so I only really got to go there when I was sick. I would get to sleep on the funky bed in the waxing room. It smelled like hot perfume and made me feel safe. We would order deep dish spinach pizza from the Giordano's next door, and if I just had an ear infection (and not the flu) I got to sit in the kitchen and eat it with my mom. That place was so tacky 80's, the bathroom was all black enamel and mirrors, like Park West, the club down the street. My mom was dating one of the PW tech/roadie guys then so sometimes we would go from the salon to the club and they would set me and his kids up on the balcony with kiddie cocktails. We had to stay up there while the live bands played and everyone went off to do whatever drugs they were doing. It was ~1986; my mom was ~26. I feel like Take Your Child to Work day was really different back then.
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