A Salmon Surrounded by Hawks

I will preface this post with a quick word about how lovely it is that Chicago's beloved Blackhawks hockey team earned themselves the infamous Stanley Cup this week. They completely deserved it (especially that guy who lost 7 teeth in one game) and I have nothing but respect and pride for the team. I was there at the bar Wednesday night just like everyone else in the city, drinking heavily and watching in anticipation until Patrick Kane found a way to slip that puck right past the goalie for the final winning point. It was great and exciting and hugging strangers was fun.

Today was the official Blackhawks celebration downtown. A parade was scheduled, as was a rally at the end of said parade. I happened to have been called in to an important meeting at 930am. Location? Basically a block from ground zero where all the after-parade festivities would be taking place. Little did I realized how very screwed this would make me later.

I arrived early just in case of delays from the events of the day, and I was able to snake through the already huge crowd and get to the building by walking about a block and a half out of my way to find a place that had not been barricaded off for the parade already. I easily maneuvered to the entrance of the building, and was pleased to find it was not as crowded as I thought it would be. This was at 9am. At that point, I noticed that people were covering the awning out front with a HUGE Blackhawks sign. I should have realized then that I was a goner.

The meeting got out around 11am. Right smack in the middle of parade time. I figured there would at least be space for people to walk along behind the spectators. I thought wrong.

There is no stopping hockey fans, my friends. They will stand, hang, climb, or scramble to anywhere they see an open space to view these heroes of theirs. And I understand that. I just figured I would at least be able to move, albeit slowly, to where I needed to go. Nope. I was stuck in any direction I tried to go. I was surrounded by drunk super-fans with no way out. In the most humid day of summer thus far. Wearing a freaking suit coat. And wearing flip-flops, just asking for my toes to be stepped on. It was awful. I did manage to enjoy myself for about 5 minutes when the parade came by and I was close enough to see the team members celebrating in their double decker buses. Also, I marveled at the amount of confetti in the air. I had never seen so many tiny colors floating through the air. It was actually quite stunning.

I eventually found a way to swim upstream amidst what I later learned was 2 million people. But not until I had tried several different routes that led to dead ends or just too many people to fight through, and I had sweat through my suit coat and tank-top underneath. The sun beat down on me oppressively and I am pretty sure my face is fried from not wearing sunscreen (I did not expect to be outside for that long after my meeting. Silly me).

Eventually I found my way to an L train stop, but because of the massive amount of people there for the Hawks celebration, I had to wait for 6 trains to go by in order to actually be able to board one. And by board I mean cram my way on by contorting my body into an "s" shape and shoving my elbow into the breast of the woman next to me. It was a real treat, let me tell you.

Finally I made it home, a mere 2 and a half hours after I started on my journey. Normally, this commute would take a half hour during the evening rush after work. Today, it was epic. I am proud, though. This little salmon found her way upstream despite adversity. Let this be a metaphor for all of us--perseverance will get us where we want to go...eventually. And wherever you are going--don't wear flip flops.