Coffee Beans, Fasionista's and the Reptile Boy

After a long layoff from working and endless submissions of my resume into the void also known as cyber space, I was finally heading to work. David Baldwin had recommended me for a weekend stint with a Business Expo company called BXI working as a travel director for the NBC Travel Expo in Chicago. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect and was unfamiliar with the event, but was glad to be working again. I booked my travel through Megabus, a midwestern bus carrier that services towns throughout middle America for moderately priced fares and was set to travel on Thursday evening and Sunday night. I have had my share of experiences with Megabus but still find that it is one of the more efficient modes of travel when shuttling back and forth to Chicago from St. Louis. I was a bit weary though, because my previous trip left St. Louis at 4:30 pm and a half hour into the trip we were informed that we had to turn around in order to pick up two girls who had gotten off the bus in St. Louis and missed getting back on in time. I found it incredible that 100 paying customers had to pay for the mistake of two silly girls who could not follow directions, or simply watch for the mass of people boarding for Chicago. Nonetheless, after an extra hour of travel we arrived safely in Chicago. I swore that this trip would be different though and settled in for the five and a half hour trek up Highway 55.
I put my bags down next to a woman, took my seat, and turned on my ipod. As I heard Beyonce begin to sing about "all the single ladies" and "putting a ring on her finger," I also noticed three girls boarding the bus. They seemed to be your typical college aged females, clearly traveling to Chicago for a weekend of fashion and fun. I was sorely mistaken on this however and realized it three minutes into the trip when the girl behind me began sharing stories of her "ex, who was involved with her best friend now, but that was alright because she was a whore anyways." Whore was probably the least offensive word she would use the rest of the trip. I honestly believe that i heard more curse words come out of this girls mouth than I have heard in my 27 years of existence. She said things that I did not even know were to be used in that manner and all that my co-passenger and I could do was exchange glances of incredulity. After enduring five hours of this I prayed that they would not be on my return trip. The three girls had been forced to sit in different sections of the front of the bus but felt it was necessary to shout over others in order to talk about everything from ex's to their plans for getting hammered and hooking up in various Chicago establishments. It turns out they were fashion students attending a conference and partying it up for the weekend. As we pulled into the Union Station terminal in Chicago I heard one of them say repeatedly "how glad they were to be getting off of the bus," I realized that this was perhaps the first thing that she had said in five hours that I agreed with. I could not have been happier to be getting away from the obnoxious nineteen year old girls.
After gathering my luggage and a short walk to the bus stop, I grabbed the 151 bus which would take me directly to Davids apartment, where I was staying for the weekend. An hour later I arrived at David's. This was set to be a quick trip for me, get in, work, get out, because I had to return to St. Louis by Monday morning in order to take care of my dog and my mothers three cats. Friday morning, David and I awoke and made our way down to Navy Pier where the expo was to take place. We were scheduled to be in at 8 and arrived just on time. David had worked the event the year before, so he knew what to expect and had informed me ahead of time that it would be a fairly easy event to work. Most of Friday was spent registering the travel companies who were coming in to set up their booths for the weekend and it went by fairly quickly. At some point in the day I was introduced to the man who ran the Greece booth, little did I know that he would prognosticate my future by the end of the weekend. Following a twelve hour day of setup, David and I grabbed a burger from Crew, in Andersonville and then retired for the night, knowing we had a 4:30 am wake up call the next morning.
We arose before dawn, got dressed and headed out into the crisp Chicago morning. We arrived at the Pier after a very brisk morning walk from the bus stop and began our day with hot Starbucks, and egg sandwiches. Not a bad way to start an early morning. After concluding our team meeting, I was informed that I would be working the info desk and conference rooms and David would secure the stage for the weekend, escorting various groups of hula dancers, singers, impersonators and the likes. His job sounded a bit more entertaining than mine, as I knew I would be dealing with the general public. Now, if you have not had the good fortune of working a FREE expo, let me tell you....it brings out the strangest, most interesting people you will ever meet. Especially at a time when the economy is suffering the way that it is in the States. Everyone was there looking for a free trip and all the handouts that come with an expo. The first day was fairly uneventful, although I did get to meet the Reptile Guy, a 19 year boy from Miami who had come up with a collection of reptiles, which he showed around the country....I know at this point it is truly beginning to sound a bit more like a carnival than anything else. The reptiles guys' prized possession was a 10 foot alligator named Lassie that lived in wooden box. But he also had snakes (venomous) and an assortment of smaller crocs and gators. Not surprisingly, he was the main attraction for the weekend.
Overall, I would say that the weekend went by uneventfully and I even was able to muster up the courage to pet one of the smaller crocs. He was surprisingly leathery and rough. Following our last night of work, the company offered to take us to dinner to celebrate. I knew I had a bus to catch that night, but I was hungry and had time so I decided to tag along. We decided upon a Lebanese restaurant and had our fill of Baklava, pita, lamb, beef, siwarma, kous kous, and many other items. I literally felt as if I could not eat another thing. However, we had agreed to meet up with our Greece tour manager at The Greek Isles, in Greektown for what we thought would be drinks. As it turned out, the Greek are very hospitable and we were essentially force fed the flaming cheese and feta olive dips and greek desserts that we "had to try". It was surely a nice warmup to Thanksgiving. With all the great food and wine and good company i thought that the evening had been a success....but that was when I learned that it was not over. In the honor of Greek tradition, we were informed that we needed to order coffee, drink it till it was almost complete and then wait. Little did we know, that we were in the presence of a coffee bean reader who could tell us what to expect in the coming days. I drank my coffee, then followed the next set of instructions. I was told to swirl my cup then to place the saucer over the top and to turn it upside down. This way all the remaining liquid would drain and the beans could dry in order to be read. I was unable to ascertain exactly what it was that he would be reading or determining, but my interest had been peaked. I was to be the second in line...and these were public offerings so i heard when the prognosticator told my coworker that he was "afraid of death." That's it, that was all he had to say to him...."You are afraid of death." So I assumed my beans might say the same thing...or something similar. However, my fortune was much different than that and much more optimistic. I cannot reveal what it was that he said because I am still waiting to see if it will indeed come true.