If you're a Seinfeld fan like I am, you'll remember the "pop-in" references. When you live in a big city like Chicago, the pop-in really doesn't happen that much. Out in Naperville where I grew up, we'd have pop-ins all the time. You just show up at someones door and say, "Hey, what's up? Want to do something?" It's actually one of the things most memorable from my childhood. One family in the neighborhood, more so than any other including my own, really welcomed pop-ins to the point of almost inviting them. And what a great feeling everyone in the neighborhood had towards that family, including the parents. We knew we could always just head down to their house and most of the time not even knock, though we would in the evening when we were sure the parents were home. But during the day, you'd just go over, walk in and say "Hi Mrs. S." and head downstairs to where the sons usually were (they had three and two were close to my age).
THAT's the positive image I have from the suburbs and a closer knit neighborhood. THAT's what would get me back to the suburbs at some point in the future.......oh, and the schools if I had a kid. But I wonder now if I'm just being nostalgic and that world doesn't exist anymore....in the suburbs or the city. Hmmmm......
Well I do know that dejesus freak just popped in right here in the city! He lives down the street and there's really no reason we shouldn't have pop-ins all the time. Of course, you can't just walk in, but we probably walk by each other's place fairly often and there's no reason to not just ring the buzzer and say, "Hey, what's up? Doing anything? Doing nothing? Can I join you?" That's awesome. Sure, some of the time they aren't going to be home or will have people over, but a good chunk of the time nothing will be going on and they'd probably welcome the company.
Actually across the street from dejesus freak is a couple with two kids whom I've known for a while and whose company I enjoy. We try to have the same type of beer (Chimay) on hand, if not cold in the summer, just in case the other stops by. That's what neighborhoods should be like and back in the day, fifty years ago, I bet there was a fair amount of that going on.
So to Kel from D.C. and dejesus freak down the street, this entry's for you! Thanks.
For tomorrow's "who is this person?" entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvonne_DeCarlo
2 comments:
It's weird being the subject of someone else's blog, based on something that happened not an hour earlier.
Anyway, I neither give nor receive many pop-ins, neither in the city nor when I once lived in the burbs, so the whole thing was a bit unusual for me.
Still, I happened to be wandering around Lakeview running errands and was walking by Joe's house. I was thinking about the lunch we had a few weeks ago and that, considering we live only a block or two away, it's probably high time for another one. I figured I'd give Joe a call when I got home.
Then I thought, "Shoot, if he's home, why not just stop by and ask him in person?" I saw from the street that he had a light on, so why not? It was only when I reached the door that it occurred to me that he might be tied up, but I still figured that I'd only be a minute or so.
I'm glad I dropped by. I got the chance to check out the new TV as well as his new table and chairs in the dining area. All were very nice and it was good to see Joe and to meet his business partner at the same time.
I can't wait to show that picture to my co-workers and tell them with a totally straight face that this is a standard position in American football.
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