Chicago Trip
Ok, last week, my wife and I went to Chicago. This is a pretty long story, so I hope you got time….
The photographer from our wedding decided to take us to small claims court as we got behind on our payments back to him. He was supposed to go, once a month, to my wife’s p/t job and get $50.00. She got sick a couple times and had breast reduction surgery done, so she wasn’t working for a couple months here and there. Well, we got a letter from a producer of the Judge Mathis court show asking us if we wanted to appear. She said they have interns that scout around the country looking for small claims cases and they found ours. After some discussion, Dawn finally decided she would give me a free trip to Chicago. The show payed for everything except our beers. They paid for the flights to and from, our hotel room, $35.00 each for food, and they would pay the judgement. We had nothing to lose. Dawn was just very nervous about being on national TV.
We packed up an overnight bag, and headed to Epply Airport in Omaha on Wednesday, the 14th, and flew out headed to one of my favorite cities. We landed at Midway Airport around 7:00 that night. I was a little upset that I didn’t get a window seat as this was only the second time I’ve ever been on an airplane, but I got over it. We headed for the luggage claim, and there was a guy standing there with a sign that had our name on it. Cool! He was the driver there to pick us up to take us to the hotel. We followed him into the parking garage and headed right toward a limo! My excitement built! I’ve never been in a limo before!
We got to the hotel, the Comfort Inn downtown, and checked in. We went to our room and got cleaned up, then headed out to eat. I knew we were going to be in the city that is home of the heart attack, so I didn’t eat much all day. I was saving myself for brats and grease and BBQ’ed stuff that only Ditka would approve of! We ate at a place called the Weber Grill and Bar. It was packed and had a 30 min. wait for a table. Remember, this was Wednesday night. Elbow to elbow. We had a couple beers while we waited, and talked to a guy who was there on business. And there was a Cubbies game on. I would have liked to have seen it first hand, but oh well. It was the best food we’ve ever had!
After dinner, we walked around and stopped at a couple other places for drinks, then headed back to the hotel. (I won’t go into detail. You’re welcome.)
The next morning, we got up around 8:00 and headed back out into the streets of downtown Chicago. Sidestepped the pan handlers and people walking to work. Dawn was feeling very nervous and upset about going on the show, so she wasn’t much fun. The limo service was slated to pick us up at noon to take us to the NBC tower. Right on! We got around and went over there.
We had to go through a whole process. They security checked us, led us one way, then another. We got to the second floor and were taken into a room that I saw said “Defendants only”. Inside were a few other people who were waiting for their moment in the limelight. I was growing more and more excited. I wanted to learn all I possibly could about how this TV show was made!
We sat and waited, and talked to the others and found out where they were from, what they were being sued for, etc. There was only one bathroom, it was unisex. Different! We waited some more. Then the producer came in. (She was a HOTTIE!!!) She kind of went over things with Dawn and told her what to expect; prepped her for the lies that would possibly be brought out, what to expect from the Judge, when to go to make-up, papers to sign, etc. There was a lot to go over! I was growing more and more excited! I was looking forward to: a) going on TV, b) learning about what goes on behind the cameras, c) being there to support my wife, d) having fun and a story to tell people for years, and e) finding out what is said in the court room so I can retell it to my family and friends. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. 3 hours before Dawn was slated to go on, she says to me “I don’t want you in there”. You could hear my heart fall to the floor. “Why not?” I asked. “I don’t want you to be humiliated by the lies he’s going to tell about me.” She replied.
Now, when we got married, I promised to love, honor and cherish till death. Stand by her through good times and bad, and everything in between. I wasn’t going to judge her. I wasn’t going to believe anything the plaintiff said, I just wanted to be there. So now, I’ve wasted an entire day sitting in a stupid little room with a bunch of strangers doing absolutely nothing productive. If she knew she wasn’t going to have me in there, I could have explored Chicago a little more! It wasn’t fair! She took 5 hours of my life and wasted them! Then says I’m being petty and selfish. What the hell!?!? I didn’t even get to meet Judge Mathis!
A can came to pick us up and take us to the airport again. I didn’t say two words to her the whole flight home. I’m still mad about it when I stop and think about the whole thing. Marriage. What a waste of time!
Did you see Ferris Bueller?
Nope.
That must have been some big can to fit both of you in there.