Week 41 - Go Cubs, Go!
A bit of a PSA; I am not Cain, Davis, or Josh. I spent this past week as a visitor on the bus. I asked them if I could write the blog from the perspective of a friend who has been following along their last 9ish months. I know all the Lost Bus boys well, but there are very few that know me as well as Josh knows me. He and I lived together at Clemson and he has been one of my very best friends since we met our freshman year. Let me preface this blog by saying that I feel all types of emotions in regard to the bus. Now that this introduction is out of the way, on to the time in Chi-town.
If I’m being honest, going into this I was pretty bummed the week that worked for me to visit them was in Chicago. I had been to Chicago when I was younger and I didn’t remember it being anything to write home about. I don’t know what Chicago I had been to before because I was blown away. Chicago rocks. I have no other description other than Chicago is awesome and it’s now one of my favorite cities I’ve visited. We got to spend time exploring the city, swimming in Lake Michigan, hitting skateparks, and hanging out in the park around the bean. That’s where we met Glenn. Glenn is a security guard in the park. I think that the bulk of his job is to chase out people trying to sell ice cream from two-wheeled push carts. Glenn is very fast, very observant, and very courageous. His patrol was around a fountain where little kids were swimming and Glenn had no time to avoid the splashes of water. He would walk straight through the water if that’s what it took to protect his park. One of the hardest I’ve laughed was when Glenn had chased out one of the guys selling ice cream and had turned his attention 50 yards away to someone trying to sell beads in the park (bad idea). We furiously waved the ice cream man back to the park seemingly like we were ready to buy some. As soon as he got deep enough into the park we yelled for Glenn to come to the rescue. He wasted no time, running down and jumping down the walls back to the center of the park to chase the salesman out. All this with a huge smile on his face. Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.
The bus brings some challenges that in hindsight seem obvious. One of these is when you have to go to the bathroom BADLY with no warning. I’ve never seen Davis look more panicked and more afraid before as when he had a bathroom emergency and nowhere to go. I had a similar encounter and had to walk a quarter mile to a grocery store. Both these stories had happy endings. The bus also gets a lot of stares which is fun because with people's attention already on you it makes it easier to start a conversation whether or not you want one. One night as we were going to sleep, a lady named Patricia came by screaming at the bus asking if we built it. We had a nice conversation but she kind of gave me the creeps. I woke up multiple times in the night to her taking laps around the parking lot. Sometimes our guardian angels show up in disguise (Patricia, thank you for your protection of the bus). It can also be pretty freaking hard to navigate the bus in tight spaces. But let me assure you these boys are very talented with a wheel in their hands. And that’s not where their talents end either…
Unfortunately, the planned volunteer work for the week fell through at the eleventh hour and it left us on the hunt for work. It’s pretty crazy how many lines Josh, Davis, and Cain send out looking for just one bite. There were a few other leads we chased down that ended up being dead ends. We finally got connected to Second City Church through a friend. As a side note, I don’t think there is anywhere they can go where they don’t have a connection or friend in the area. Through Second City Church, we got connected to Sharon and Sadie. Sharon currently lives with her mom, Sadie, in Southside Chicago. Sharon and her daughter, Jayda, recently bought the home next door to Sadie. It’s their dream to buy a bunch of homes in their neighborhood together and protect their neighborhood from gentrification. Unfortunately, Jayda passed away in a car accident in late April, leaving Sharon to carry this dream herself. Jayda was a member of Second City Church, thus how the connection happened. While working at their house, I realized we could have easily kept our heads down and minded our own business and knock everything out in a timely manner. But that’s not how the bus boys operate. Every time I looked up, someone was hanging out and talking with Sadie and Sharon. Whether giving them a tour of the bus, asking about their life experiences, or drinking some pop.
We continued on with the connection at Second City Church and began tackling a to-do list at their recently purchased ministry center. Second City Church serves to connect people to the gospel in an area defined by diversity. The ministry center is centered between multiple train lines and many folks nearby are Spanish speaking. Just a short walk from the ministry center is where you start to see a lot of Polish influence- signs, people, and language. We were thankful to use a parking lot to sleep that belonged to a Polish Catholic Church. We met Stanley, a man who works at the church. He was very interested in the bus and said he wanted to do this one day. No hate, but the clock is ticking my guy. He pegged Davis as someone that could help him sell a big clock (like a huge church steeple clock). We never saw the clock but my imagination ran wild with what Davis could do if he got his hands on it… This is where my time on the bus came to an end.
Alright, switching it up again on you now. Hayes Sherman wrote the first portion of the blog, and now I (Tommy Fairbairn) will write this portion. I got into town the same day as Hayes. He didn’t mention my name in the beginning, but that’s fine. Humility is the name of the game on the bus and it’s been fun to watch Cain, Josh, and Davis sharpen themselves in this realm. I also stayed longer than Hayes so I win.
I second everything Hayes said about Chicago. It’s a unique city filled with pockets of culture on every block. Normally the bus boys spend elongated periods of time with one group in one location, but it was more difficult to find consistent work this week. We ended up bouncing around to different corners of Chicago every day. We spent time fixing a door and landscaping in South Chicago with Sadie and Sharon, a day in Logan Square DECIMATING a to do list at Second City Church, and worked a day and a half in the Lincoln Park area replacing a toilet and putting in flooring at the Green Street Theatre. It was novel to experience a city through the lens of serving. You still feel like a bit of a tourist, but you get to see a city in an authentic way. Rather than just seeing the bean, catching a cubs game, and eating deep dish pizza, we got to share meals with people that have lived there for decades (Sadie & Sharon), run errands with a passionate theater manager (Shout out to Caro at the Green Street Theater), and hear a little about a pastor’s vision for ministry in the Chicago area (Hi Cole). We also saw the bean, went to a cubs game, and ate deep dish pizza. Here are my ratings:
Bean: 9/10
Bean is a 6/10 but things got silly with a tennis ball and then Rob McAdams showed up so it jumped up a lot.
Cubs Game: 9/10
Would of been a 7/10, but there was a grand slam and the song “Go Cubs Go” goes super hard.
Deep Dish Pizza: 7/10
Nothing to write home about, but still pizza.
On Saturday morning we finished at the Green Street Theater, and made our way to Kalamazoo. Stopping at two skate parks on the way and ending up in Michigan City, Indiana. This place has a rockin skate park (double mini ramp with a spine it was awesome). Davis and Josh are improving at skateboarding at an astronomical rate. Cain, being the servant that he is went to the laundromat and hammered out some laundry.
That brings us to Sunday. We went to church in Kalamazoo hoping to talk to the pastor and see if he had any leads of places we could serve. He didn’t know of much so we continued the day. One of my favorite parts of the day was the debrief. The “debrief” is a little Sunday meeting where they get together and review the week. They talk about lessons learned, share encouragement/grievances, and reflect on the things they want to remember going forward. It’s neat getting to see that these three guys don’t see the year as just a year of adventures in a bus, but rather a mission that has serious responsibilities tied to it.
Alright, I think this is kind of long for the blog post so I’m gonna write highs and lows from the week that I didn’t get to mention.
HIGHS:
-Time with Davis. He is a hall of fame friend that I am lucky to have.
-Getting to live in close proximity with Cain & Josh. I’ve known both for a long time, but have rarely been in such close quarters with them for an extended period of time. I laughed a lot with them and they made me feel like I’ve been on the bus for a long time.
- Charcuterie Board with Charlie and Anna Claire. These are friends from home that live in Chicago that had us over then took us out. All-star time was had.
-Somehow, we all caught a wave while surfing in Lake Michigan.
-We were stuck in traffic and Josh grabbed a skateboard to kill time on the path next to the road and immediately wiped out.
-Josh and I started wearing chains in Michigan and I might be a chain guy now.
LOWS:
-Hygiene has not been very impressive (I'm on day 10 and only 1 cold nasty shower).
-Did not bring nearly enough clothes
BONUS HIGH:
-Stanley trying to get Davis to buy/sell the clock (probably about 12 feet diameter) and saying “you do something for me, I do something for you”.