Sometime in 1999 or so, I was working for a contractor that did the support for the Chicago Public Schools. That meant that I was driving all over the South side in areas where I had no real business being. So me, in the ’87 Astro Van, two tone grey and my 2 German shepherds would drive around from 7 am until 4 pm going from school to school fixing stuff. Few areas had a plywood factor of less than 8, meaning that there was 8 times more plywood on the houses than there was glass. Most of the times when I would get to a school I was instructed to call when I arrived, park on the sidewalk in front of the school and be ushered in to reduce my exposure.

It was a Monday afternoon, and I was driving, lost down a mostly deserted street somewhere on the South Side. I was on the phone hands free with my friend Wes trying to figure out where I was when I noticed that there was a group of people congregating in the middle of the road about 200 yards ahead of me. They were lining up across the road, facing me. Then I noticed that some had bats and other implements in their hands. I started to slow down. I told Wes what I was seeing and he yelled “Floor it, Now!, get the hell out of there!” I hesitated enough that the line moved towards me, curving inwards. I stomped on the gas pedal and started zig zagging down the middle of the road. I went through the line, bouncing two off of the front fenders, hearing thuds and cracks against the windows. I ran every stop sign and red light for miles until I found my way back to the expressway. I went straight home, thoroughly rattled.

Wednesday of that week, I was at a high school one afternoon working on a server. I had parked the van far out in the lot, away from all the other cars and traffic. I had to go out to the van to get something and as I approached it, it looked low in the back end. As I got closer, I realized why, both rear tires had been slashed. Those were good, new Bridgestone Turanza tires. I was pissed. I had to have to van towed to a garage to replace both rears.

The next week Friday, I was getting off of the expressway, sitting on an off ramp about 5 cars deep in the light. I was listening to music, minding my own business, when I noticed a homeless man walking up to driver side windows with a box of M&Ms. I gave it little thought. When he got to me, he held up the box of M&Ms to me. “No thanks man.”  I said. He lifted the box up with his Left hand to expose a snub nose 38 in his Right. “Gimme your cash.” He said calmly. I kept my wallet up in the ceiling compartment of the van and kept small bills in my Left jeans pocket. I reached into my jeans, pulled out $7.00, handed it to him and said, “Sorry man, that’s all I have.”. He took it and without a word, walked away. The light turned green and I went straight through to get back on the expressway towards home. Once underway I called the person I was working for, David, and told him that I’d be picking up my final paycheck and turning in all equipment on Monday. When he asked why, I explained to him that almost being killed twice in one week and losing $400 in tires wasn’t what I considered good working conditions. He offered me more money. I declined. It was for the best it turned out, he was indicted the next month for defrauding the CPS of about $2M in computer services and hardware and was convicted. Last I heard is that he served time for it.