My first Chicago apartment was....a great experience that taught me street smarts & peeled off a layer of culture shock I once had. I also learned that you should never, ever procrastinate, because you might get stuck in an elevator and miss your deadline.
My mom dropped me off May 2008 in the Chicago neighborhood Goldcoast. With the richest zip code in Chicago I thought it would be the safest and most luxurious. The hallways were covered in thick layers of glossy black and red paint, the faded carpet was ripped up with animal droppings and the 2 person elevator leaned to the right. There was a homeless man living in the laundry room and another tenet who carted around Styrofoam heads bunggie corded to wire racks. And even though my oven didn't work, giant rats had made it up the the 6th floor where I stayed, and my toilet never stopped flushing, I was thrilled to call this place mine.
There were quite a few events in this apartment, I could probably write a novel...but the most memorable for me was in April 2009. I was preparing for my last 2 finals, sleep deprived, food deprived, money deprived...the day didn't seem as if it could get any more stressful. I had to run to school and take a morning final, come back home to finish my evening final, run back to school to submit it, and then make it to work by 6pm.
The elevator was not suppose to transport animals but I was in too much of a rush to run up and down 6 flights of steep winding stairs so I pulled my dog Sam into the elevator with me, pushed the half-broken off Lobby button that sometimes shocked you, and then the elevator stopped, the lights shut off, and there was an odd silence in the building. It was the middle of the day and the electricity went out-just my luck! I started banging on the door, without my cell phone, with a dog whom had to pee, and mid-day while everyone was at lunch.
Finally about 10 minutes later I can hear a woman asking if someone is in the elevator, she keeps asking me if I'm ok, if I need an ambulance, am I claustrophobic...Some time later I hear sirens, honking, and I think 'surely that can't be for me...' but it was, a whole fire truck, ambulance, cop cars all came to rescue me from the 18th century elevator.
At this point everyone in the building was waiting outside the elevator to see the rescue. I could hear the firefighters prying the doors open and cops pushing people back. I was in-between floors so they weren't sure how to pull me out. Finally about an hour later I saw a stream of light. The hallway was packed and everyone cheered, how embarrassing!!!! They successfully pulled me out but Sam the dog was shaking in the corner. The firefighters where nice enough to climb up into the elevator and try to sooth him, my neighbors brought out treats to try to bribe him but I could tell that dog was not going to be tempted and I would be the only one to talk him into jumping out. With a 4 story drop under the elevator you had to be careful not to get fall down the elevator shoot. I stood a few feet from the drop, clapped my hands, got Sam's attention and finally he pulled himself together ran out of the elevator and I had 65 pounds of Labrador flying at me. Sam jumped right into my arms knocking me over but finally we had both escaped.
It took about 2 hours from start to finish and at this point I was already running late to turn in my final. As I walked into class and started to explain myself I felt like that kid from "And to think that I saw it on Mulberry street" by Dr. Seuss. This story was way to crazy to explain, and my professor obviously thought I was lying through my teeth, so I sucked it up, turned in my incomplete assignment, and got a C.
So, I learned....you should never procrastinate because you never know when you will get stuck in an elevator and have to be rescued by firefighters.
Hailey Schultz
My mom dropped me off May 2008 in the Chicago neighborhood Goldcoast. With the richest zip code in Chicago I thought it would be the safest and most luxurious. The hallways were covered in thick layers of glossy black and red paint, the faded carpet was ripped up with animal droppings and the 2 person elevator leaned to the right. There was a homeless man living in the laundry room and another tenet who carted around Styrofoam heads bunggie corded to wire racks. And even though my oven didn't work, giant rats had made it up the the 6th floor where I stayed, and my toilet never stopped flushing, I was thrilled to call this place mine.
There were quite a few events in this apartment, I could probably write a novel...but the most memorable for me was in April 2009. I was preparing for my last 2 finals, sleep deprived, food deprived, money deprived...the day didn't seem as if it could get any more stressful. I had to run to school and take a morning final, come back home to finish my evening final, run back to school to submit it, and then make it to work by 6pm.
The elevator was not suppose to transport animals but I was in too much of a rush to run up and down 6 flights of steep winding stairs so I pulled my dog Sam into the elevator with me, pushed the half-broken off Lobby button that sometimes shocked you, and then the elevator stopped, the lights shut off, and there was an odd silence in the building. It was the middle of the day and the electricity went out-just my luck! I started banging on the door, without my cell phone, with a dog whom had to pee, and mid-day while everyone was at lunch.
Finally about 10 minutes later I can hear a woman asking if someone is in the elevator, she keeps asking me if I'm ok, if I need an ambulance, am I claustrophobic...Some time later I hear sirens, honking, and I think 'surely that can't be for me...' but it was, a whole fire truck, ambulance, cop cars all came to rescue me from the 18th century elevator.
At this point everyone in the building was waiting outside the elevator to see the rescue. I could hear the firefighters prying the doors open and cops pushing people back. I was in-between floors so they weren't sure how to pull me out. Finally about an hour later I saw a stream of light. The hallway was packed and everyone cheered, how embarrassing!!!! They successfully pulled me out but Sam the dog was shaking in the corner. The firefighters where nice enough to climb up into the elevator and try to sooth him, my neighbors brought out treats to try to bribe him but I could tell that dog was not going to be tempted and I would be the only one to talk him into jumping out. With a 4 story drop under the elevator you had to be careful not to get fall down the elevator shoot. I stood a few feet from the drop, clapped my hands, got Sam's attention and finally he pulled himself together ran out of the elevator and I had 65 pounds of Labrador flying at me. Sam jumped right into my arms knocking me over but finally we had both escaped.
It took about 2 hours from start to finish and at this point I was already running late to turn in my final. As I walked into class and started to explain myself I felt like that kid from "And to think that I saw it on Mulberry street" by Dr. Seuss. This story was way to crazy to explain, and my professor obviously thought I was lying through my teeth, so I sucked it up, turned in my incomplete assignment, and got a C.
So, I learned....you should never procrastinate because you never know when you will get stuck in an elevator and have to be rescued by firefighters.
Hailey Schultz
