MILWAUKEE—When you’ve been in lockdown for nearly a year, the only way to go is up.
Last summer I found socially distant minor league baseball in Franklin, Wis., southwest of Milwaukee. I drove along South Howell Avenue near Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. I noticed a few airport-themed restaurants and bars along the gritty ribbon of highway. It reminded me of the 1980s and going to the Baby Doll Polka Club, across the street from Midway Airport in Chicago. I recalled a simpler time when people might stop to watch airplanes take off into places more exotic than the South Side of Chicago or the South Side of Milwaukee.
So, last Friday I drove back to [...]
August 17, 2010
Several of my female friends are chatty airline passengers. One friend in the advertising industry has even developed a couple of long-term relationships with a random seatmate. I generally don’t talk to any one. I’m sure I have negative body language and I’m always carting around a book and newspapers as hideaway devices.
Last week’s flight from Stockholm to Chicago was different. I jostled down the aisle and saw my seatmate all hopped up about having a window view. He had one of those wallet sized plastic ID-ticket holders around his neck, a sure sign of a professional traveler.
He was 12 years [...]
