Prairie Story
Today's Rotary meeting promised to be something different. Instead of more than 100 of us meeting up in a local restaurant, we split into groups for a business to business lunch. Various Rotarians take it in turns to welcome others to their place of work. Not surprisingly, those with their own restaurants tend to be the most popular. I would host one myself, but I can't really see a dozen Rotarians enjoying lunch in a converted bedroom. I decided this time to go for something completely different - lunch at the library.
I'll be honest. I did this for two reasons. 1. The Nichols Library is a five minute drive from my house and 2. I know where it is.
I'd guessed the lunch would be in a meeting room, but when I saw a lecture of some sort going on I realized something was up. Ever resourceful I asked one of the librarians, who had no idea what I was talking about. After she'd made a few fruitless phone calls I thought maybe I'd somehow made a mistake. Naperville's esteemed public library (voted no.1 in the country countless times) has three locations after all.
Eventually she told me that although she had no knowledge of any such meeting, there was another lost Rotarian upstairs asking the same thing.
Together we asked another librarian, who finally discovered that the meeting was on 95th Street, the branch furthest away from this one.
"If you give me your name, I'll phone ahead and let them know you'll be late," she said kindly. She wrote it down. "And your husband?"
Since the other gentleman was old enough to be my father I was a bit taken a back. Still, he was a lot more agreeable than my actual husband.
"Got any wheels?" he asked. "My wife dropped me off."
So there I am, five minutes later back in my car. The elderly gentleman beside me, my GPS plumbed in and ready to go. Believe me, it's not easy trying to make small talk while taking directions when you have no idea where you are going. Things really took a turn for the worse when I realised we were driving through uncharted prairie land. (Ok, it was charted, but not by me).
Six hours later (or it could have been 20 minutes, not sure which) we did eventually make it to the correct library, and had a wonderful time being shown around. But of all the things I never dreamt would happen to me while living in the U.S. was the fact that one day I would drive an elderly gentleman I didn't know across a Mid West prairie to a library.
I'll be honest. I did this for two reasons. 1. The Nichols Library is a five minute drive from my house and 2. I know where it is.
I'd guessed the lunch would be in a meeting room, but when I saw a lecture of some sort going on I realized something was up. Ever resourceful I asked one of the librarians, who had no idea what I was talking about. After she'd made a few fruitless phone calls I thought maybe I'd somehow made a mistake. Naperville's esteemed public library (voted no.1 in the country countless times) has three locations after all.
Eventually she told me that although she had no knowledge of any such meeting, there was another lost Rotarian upstairs asking the same thing.
Together we asked another librarian, who finally discovered that the meeting was on 95th Street, the branch furthest away from this one.
"If you give me your name, I'll phone ahead and let them know you'll be late," she said kindly. She wrote it down. "And your husband?"
Since the other gentleman was old enough to be my father I was a bit taken a back. Still, he was a lot more agreeable than my actual husband.
"Got any wheels?" he asked. "My wife dropped me off."
So there I am, five minutes later back in my car. The elderly gentleman beside me, my GPS plumbed in and ready to go. Believe me, it's not easy trying to make small talk while taking directions when you have no idea where you are going. Things really took a turn for the worse when I realised we were driving through uncharted prairie land. (Ok, it was charted, but not by me).
Six hours later (or it could have been 20 minutes, not sure which) we did eventually make it to the correct library, and had a wonderful time being shown around. But of all the things I never dreamt would happen to me while living in the U.S. was the fact that one day I would drive an elderly gentleman I didn't know across a Mid West prairie to a library.
posted by Hilary at
3:21 PM
2 Comments:
Do anything to get those votes won't you!!
Steph
By
Anonymous, at 4:50 PM
Hilary,
Unlike you, I have not always been so positive about living the "Naperville Dream." It has taken me 12 years to get out of my funk and I can say that I am nearly certain that I just might be, dare I say it, happy.
I won't bore you with all of the baggage that I brought with me to the suburbs that prevented me from seeing the sun shine. I won't even bore you with all of the sorted suburban drama that I endured once arriving (mostly because it was of my own making).
But something happened to me that helped me appreciate not only my life today, but all of the quirky little things things that I have learned over the past 49 1/2 years.
Which brings me to the topic of your post. To me, giving that gentleman a ride seems like the only thing that you could do. I spent the first 17 years of my life living in teeny tiny towns in the midwest. I love the fact that life in Naperville allows the small town, middle America, wide-eyed, trusting, sweet country girl come alive in all of us. Even a brit from across the pond.
Denise Burks
http://www.successinthesuburbs.com/
By
Unknown, at 8:54 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home