Socializing

“Oh, no way!  My wife and I go to Downer’s Grove on Fridays!”

I was surprised to hear Jermaine say it, but as it turned out, we were both in the same town most friday evenings.  We arranged to all go out to dinner that night at Papa’s Pizza Place, a little place in Bolingbrook (right down the road from Downer’s Grove).  It was the first time in weeks I went to hang out with a friend, and the first time I ever got together with Jermaine outside of work.  It was a lot of fun.

I got a chance to meet his wife, Shahira, who seems to be the perfect foil for Jermaine.  Honestly, it was like watching an Abbot & Costello skit, the straight man (Shahira) and the jokester (Jermaine).  Observe this exchange:

Jermaine: So I was riding the jet ski, and I saw another guy fly by, then turn sharply and jumped his own wake.  And so obviously…

Shahira: And obviously your extensive experience prepared you for this. (She

Jarmaine: Hey, I had a full 8 minutes of experience, I was ready for anything, I GOT THIS.

They went at it like that pretty much the whole night.  We sat there long after the servers began to ignore us, just talking and laughing away.  It reminded me of the good ol’ days in Indiana when we would sit at Broadway or Steak n’ Shake for hours on end.

The next day I went to meet up with an old friend of mine: Kyle.  I was honestly taken aback at just how much I missed the guy.  It wasn’t like other friends I talked ot online all the time, and just finally decided to meet up.  The words we exchanged in the last couple years would barely fill up a sheet of wide-ruled paper.  It wasn’t for lack of trying… just change of times, really…  I moved, then he moved.  I changed phones, and so did he.  He was no longer online, and so that was it.

As it happened, Jeff had Kyle’s number, so I texted him and asked if was doing anything Saturday.  I had given up on him when Friday evening, on my way to Downer’s Grove, I get a text back from him.  We met up at this little restaurant right by his apartment: Hessville Family Cafe in Hammond Indiana.  Kyle’s doing all right for himself, which is more than can be said for some of my other friends from Indiana.  As it turns out, many of them have taken quite a few steps backwards since I left: drug addicts and slackers.  It’s sad… but I guess that’s the way life goes sometimes.

Kyle hadn’t changed, he’s as fun-loving as ever, and definitely happier now.  I haven’t had a chance to meet his girlfriend, but she seems to make him happy.  Anyone capable of doing that is okay in my book.

In other news the White Sox and the Cubs have been eliminated in the playoffs, so Chicago is safe from rioting for the time being.  And finally… there’ll be some peace and quiet around the office.

Zel-kun out.