Say "Cheese"…and Wine

September 19, 2007 • Posted in Seeing Eye dogs, Uncategorized, Writing for Children by

Safe & SoundWalking the Mean StreetsEvery once in a while, my talking computer barks out an email from the Illinois chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. I listen and think, gee, that event sounds interesting. And then I find out where they are meeting, or when they are meeting, and I hit the delete button.
But then came the announcement for last night’s soiree. Downtown Chicago. 5:30 pm. Wine and cheese.
We live just south of the Chicago loop. The wine and cheese party was at Carus publishing – they’re the ones who publish Cricket Magazine for kids. Who knows, maybe Cricket is looking for stories about Seeing Eye dogs. And if they’re not? Wine. And cheese! I signed up.
Carus is at 70 E. Lake. A fairly easy walk for Hanni and me. Except during rush hour.
It’s not the traffic that’s the problem at 5 pm – it’s the commuters! Workers are so eager to catch their trains or get to their el stops or talk to friends on their cell phones that they don’t watch where their going. Hanni only got stepped on once during this trip, pretty good. But she was bumped into more times than that.
At one corner Hanni finally retaliated. She ran me right into the poor soul standing there waiting for the light to change.
“Hey!” the woman shouted at me.
“Sorry,” I said.
No answer.
We waited a bit. A noisy corner. Difficult to hear the traffic and figure out when the light turned green.
“Are you crossing here?” I asked the stranger.
No answer. Man, she really was mad at us. We waited. It was especially hard to judge the traffic. I needed help.
“Are you going this way?” I asked, pointing across the street. No answer.
That’s when I realized. The woman we ran into must be developmentally disabled. I left her alone.
Just then a young man walked up. “God you are in your own world!” he complained, nudging the woman so hard that she ran into us. Yeesh, it’s a violent pedestrian world in Chicago! “Take off your headphones!” the guy shouted to his friend. “You can’t hear anything!”
The stranger at the corner wasn’t developmentally disabled – she was voluntarily hearing impaired! The guy kept shouting to her as they crossed the street. We crossed along.
Hanni and I made it to 70 E. Lake. The book writers and illustrators were nice to us. One helped me find a seat, and Hanni immediately curled up next to me to recover from the trip. I drank wine. And ate cheese. And learned a lot about Carus Publications.               Any writers out there who are reading this blog: Cricket and Lady Bug and Baby Bug and all their magazines receive far too many stories about farms. And too many stories about summer adventures. They want more stories with an activity connected at the end. So if you have a story in mind about a winter activity in the city, send it to Carus. If the story centers on boys, all the better – they get far too many stories that relate solely to girls.
Our trip home was much easier – the commuters had all arrived at their destinations. Hanni and I made it home.  Safe & Sound.

Danny Yuen On September 19, 2007 at 5:38 pm

See Beth. That’s why you should have a doberman or pit bull as a Seeing Eye dog… bet no one would be messing with you then.

In regards to the woman and her headphones… Afraid I’m guilty of that as well. I’m usually blasting the music on my mp3 player whenever I’m navigating the rough streets of downtown Chicago.

Talk to you when I get back from San Francisco. Have a good weekend!

Beth On September 19, 2007 at 9:11 pm

Danny,
thanks for the note. I have a feeling the wine you’ll be drinking in Napa might outshine what I had yesterday. Do me a favor: take your headphones off during the wine tour.

Cheryl On September 20, 2007 at 3:16 pm

Talk about “Safe and Sound” that woman needs to take of her headphones and listen to the sounds around her to stay safe. I liked the part about Hanni bumping into her.

Beth On September 20, 2007 at 3:46 pm

Yeah, you know, when a Seeing Eye dog runs into someone the way Hanni did Tuesday, you’re supposed to scold the dog, back up and have the dog lead you there again. If she does it correctly the second time, lavish the dog with praise. This time, I’ll admit: I’m glad I didn’t bother!

Bev On September 21, 2007 at 6:59 pm

Sorry to miss out on the cheese/wine thing.It appears as though Hanni has little tolerance for the voluntarily impaired. Isn’t it fun when she reveals her doggie personality? Glad you made it home Safe & Sound.

Beth On September 21, 2007 at 8:13 pm

You know, it *is* fun when Hanni reveals her doggie personality. As long as it doesn’t happen when she’s leading me to a podium to give a speech, or when we’re showing off her guiding skills in a classroom!
I remember Dora, my first Seeing Eye dog, showing off her “doggie personality” every time we got up to leave a restaurant. She’d pull me to the kitchen instead of the door to the outside!

Katie On September 25, 2007 at 1:25 pm

Go Hanni! I love to see a little appropriate imp-ishness! I am amazed when I observe people driving their cars with headphones on. How can they hear what is going on around them? I suppose it is no different than having the radio blaring or talking on a cell phone, but still it gives me pause.

Chicago Tribune and The Prairie Wind « Safe & Sound blog On January 1, 2008 at 6:03 pm

[…] Chapter of the Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators – I blogged about it in a post called “Say Cheese!” Hanni and I met Children’s Book Author and Writing Teacher Esther Hershenhorn At that […]

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