tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post4335291249620818824..comments2024-03-28T15:05:10.372-05:00Comments on Every goddamn day: 03/29/24: Flashback 1992: Don't kill the messengerNeil Steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-10809566468417717712020-10-13T13:59:01.642-05:002020-10-13T13:59:01.642-05:00Turning the crankiness dial up a few notches too h...Turning the crankiness dial up a few notches too high is a common lapse on social media. I occasionally let some poor schmendrick have it both barrels on Facebook, then feel bad about it. I like the party story—the governor was there. Good of me to invite you. Remember, the story hasn't been sparkling in the limelight for 28 years. A flash of attention then into the vault. For all I know someone DID point out the error, but what would I do, then? It was already in print. Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-35391127331918702942020-10-13T11:13:37.758-05:002020-10-13T11:13:37.758-05:00Neil, first off, I think my comment about spelling...Neil, first off, I think my comment about spelling errors came off as a bit too cranky, because I know you care. I know this because almost exactly eight years ago now, I emailed you about someone's misspelled name in a column you had posted on-line just moments earlier, and you said that you had rushed downstairs at the office to get it corrected before it landed in print the same way. You then invited me to a release party at Petterino's for your new book "You Were Never in Chicago," which allowed me to hobnob for one evening with a lot of people who were way above my pay grade, and for that, I am eternally grateful. <br /><br />I don't know why I got into the mindset that typos made 28 years ago should be set in stone. I think I was just marveling that it had been there this long. I don't claim to be a perfect writer myself. My problem is not misspelling, but I type so fast that I often leave out entire.Andyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15875378656423252469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-85584514024678518952020-10-13T11:12:51.090-05:002020-10-13T11:12:51.090-05:00Yeah, I can see where you're coming from, Mr. ... Yeah, I can see where you're coming from, Mr. S. Pushing back against Chicago's crappy weather and bicycle thieves. Gotta admire her stamina. And being hit by a car and shrugging it off? That's toughness, for sure.<br /><br />But "I really do not like pedestrians" and "Some lawyer...probably on drugs" were total turn-offs. Hence the b-word. But maybe that's just me. I'm often a b-word, too...the other one.Grizz 65https://www.blogger.com/profile/02892702223228764894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-55395257514399563032020-10-13T10:18:01.947-05:002020-10-13T10:18:01.947-05:00Oh I disagree completely Grizz. I thought she was ...Oh I disagree completely Grizz. I thought she was fierce. I remember seeing her showing off her scabs, hearing her talk, and feeling a pang. You had to love her a little, for pushing back.Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-14626132848066738792020-10-13T09:41:00.957-05:002020-10-13T09:41:00.957-05:00No big deal, Mr. S. She's probably still a wit...No big deal, Mr. S. She's probably still a witch (excuse the typo).<br />Time doesn't change basic personality traits all that much.<br />At reunions, the obnoxious classmates of yesteryear are still mostly jerks.Grizz 65https://www.blogger.com/profile/02892702223228764894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-87080986032815524682020-10-13T08:26:13.468-05:002020-10-13T08:26:13.468-05:00I'm one step ahead of you; I found her on Face...I'm one step ahead of you; I found her on Facebook and reached out, but she didn't respond. A graphic artist. If I ever hear back, I'll attempt an update, but the silence has a ringing quality I've learned to understand means a reply isn't coming. As for the misspelling, I'll fix it immediately. Two of my pet peeves, while we're on the topic, are: a) readers who seem to think I don't care if things are correct or not; and b) readers who try to justify obvious mistakes. Too right is two air—whoops, I mean, "To write is to err." That said, thanks for the heads up. Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-36191096491512432872020-10-13T08:19:11.283-05:002020-10-13T08:19:11.283-05:00With all due respect to Travis Hugh Culley and his...With all due respect to Travis Hugh Culley and his achievements in the time since the first article about him appeared, I'm a lot more intrigued by what may have happened to Sal Massey. She would be about 47 now. How did those experiences in 1992 guide what she's doing today?<br /><br />P.S. This article presses one of my pet-peeve buttons: it's "madly pedaling couriers," not "peddling," but if no one has noticed that in 28 years, then either it's not worth fixing or it's some way-too-tortured wordplay on selling a service.Andyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15875378656423252469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-86995674018302134632020-10-13T08:11:17.598-05:002020-10-13T08:11:17.598-05:00agree with B. Scribeagree with B. Scribeprivatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18413982311699012802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-86857941262548074312020-10-12T17:41:56.546-05:002020-10-12T17:41:56.546-05:00This story originally ran wile I was in the proces...This story originally ran wile I was in the process of getting ready to move to Cleveland, so I must have missed it. Hard to believe it's been 28 years. Do bicycle messenger services still exist in Chicago and elsewhere? Maybe they ARE another business decimated by the internet, because no bicyclist can ride fast as an e-mail...BUT...not everything can travel electronically. <br /><br />Physical delivery must still take precedence in some cases, right? Or am I just out of touch? I'm thinking about all the official documents. Legal papers. Birth and death certificates. Licenses. And then there are all those financial documents.<br /><br /> I worked at a number of brokerage firms on La Salle Street in the late '70s and early '80s, and the first one was the smallest. I would be dragged away from my desk, and my clerical duties, and be ordered to deliver stock certificates and municipal bonds. <br /><br />I always felt embarrassed and foolish...what kind of messenger boy (at 32, no less) wears a three-piece suit and a tie? But it got me out of the cramped little office, and gave me physical exercise, and I could grab a snack and use an earphone to listen to Vince and Lou, as they broadcast the Cub games. Bike messengers, as such, did not yet exist.Grizz 65https://www.blogger.com/profile/02892702223228764894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-14785864093207394152020-10-12T13:56:09.421-05:002020-10-12T13:56:09.421-05:00I wouldn't think of denying anyone the right t...I wouldn't think of denying anyone the right to their chosen vocation. Bicycle messengers serve a purpose, and should be respected. And pedestrians, likewise. All the other stuff is just unnecessary and speaks to the lack of empathy we seem to have for one another in general.SandyKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14070366627628604352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-9919631011950769162020-10-12T12:24:29.650-05:002020-10-12T12:24:29.650-05:00I think the jerk at the top of this post came scre...I think the jerk at the top of this post came screaming at me while I was trying to cross an intersection, years ago. Apparently he thought swooping down on pedestrians and screaming at them was something he was entitled to do because bicycle riding is so awesome, or something.<br /><br />With email, scanning and digital communication in general, I don't see who needs bike messengers any more. I sure don't miss them.Bitter Scribehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04645909858616987997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-24286733797341317772020-10-12T08:26:20.939-05:002020-10-12T08:26:20.939-05:00My transition job was driving a cab, which I did f...My transition job was driving a cab, which I did for more than 10 years...and didn't even get a decent human interest story out of all my adventures. If there were bike messengers back in the late 60s, I probably would have gone for that, as even when I drove a cab, my normal mode of transportation was the bike, but while the messengering might have toned my body significantly more than the 5 or 10 miles a day I used to get in, no doubt the literary results would have been the same: zilch. Kudos to Culley for having squeezed out a couple books from his experiences.<br /><br />johntatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10088632798195131329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-84919015781850427602020-10-12T07:42:58.976-05:002020-10-12T07:42:58.976-05:00I guess I didn't realize that bike messengers ...I guess I didn't realize that bike messengers were aspiring filmmakers , artists, and philosophers. Probably a poet or two as well. <br /><br />In that light I retract my condemnation . A fine lot to be sure.<br /><br />When their not bumping into you, threatening murder, giving you the finger. FMEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06829632906445535928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-4285966575951319912020-10-12T07:13:04.749-05:002020-10-12T07:13:04.749-05:00Thanks for posting this. Sorry I missed it the fir...Thanks for posting this. Sorry I missed it the first time. I remember one singular messenger crisscrossing downtown in that era, a calm, older gentleman who resembled Jeff Smith, the not-yet-infamous public television chef. I wonder if that was 40-year old Bruce Sheats? I hope his biking kept him healthy.<br /> kganderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11005895232135682751noreply@blogger.com