Wednesday, February 4, 2009

The day I trekked across Chicago...and back again

I'm so glad today is over. I literally went all over the city searching for a special type of portfolio for a presentation. Did I know what I was looking for? Nope. It was like "Where's Waldo" without knowing what the hell Waldo looks like.

My day started like any other normal day. I got to work, went to my morning meeting and grabbed a Starbucks. As I walked back in from my coffee run, the art director was yelling my name from the associate creative director's office. I went straight in there and was informed that since I wasn't busy today (according to my boss), I was to run around the city doing errands for the big new business presentation that had to get finished today.

I was a bit annoyed. Perhaps if they would have asked me, I would have told them that I did in fact have a huge copy project due tomorrow that I had barely started on. But no, I couldn't say anything, so I put a little smile on my face, grabbed some petty cash, signed off of Gchat and set off on my adventure. 

5 cab rides, 4 blank stares from salespeople, 3 calls to the art director and 2 hot flashes from running in and out of the cold with my heavy coat on later, I arrived back at work with four different options for the one type of portfolio I was supposed to find. No one had actually seen the type of thing I was looking for, they just thought they knew it existed. 

And guess what? None of them worked. 

So I was sent back out after I scarfed down a quick Lean Cuisine. I was told to try Staples and this time I decided to walk. I knew it would be a fruitless effort. No way would Staples carry it. But as I walked into the store and started to wander down the aisles, I had an idea. It was like one of those lightbulb over the head moments.

The art director had vaguely mentioned something about the portfolio I was looking for having something to do with photos. So I whipped out my iPhone (I'm obsessed), searched for camera stores and found one only a block from where I was. I quickly walked over there and found one of the shadiest buildings in Chicago. It was totally unmarked, the lobby was all torn up (not for a remodel), there were light fixtures and wires hanging from the ceiling and random puddles on the floor. It was straight out of a horror movie. 

Needless to say, the camera shop I found nestled somewhere on the 5th floor of that building wasn't what I needed, but the guy did point me in the right direction...to a store about 6 blocks away. 

So I finally found the real camera store and found what I needed instantly. It was exactly what the art director described. I hopped in a cab, raced back to the office and was welcomed back as a hero. Ok, not really. But they were pretty happy.

It was late afternoon by then and I still hadn't worked on my project. And today was a day I had to leave at 5 on the dot to make it to my haircut appointment at 6.

But 5 rolled around, things still needed to be proofread and the creative team (AKA my team) was busy finishing the new biz presentation. When it started getting later, I apologized to my coworkers, ignored their dirty looks, said I had to go get a haircut, put on my coat and left.

When I got outside, another lightbulb went off in my head. What the hell was I doing? I was totally cutting out early for a haircut (yikes, pun) and I felt really guilty. I didn't know what to do. So naturally, I called my Mom and asked for advice. After a 10-second debate, I called my hair place and rescheduled. (Sigh). My hair will have to wait until Saturday.

I ran back upstairs and though my coworkers surprised, I could tell that they were happy I hadn't bailed. And two hours later, the job was done and we all went home. I was really proud of myself for getting everything done today. But I don't know why I didn't think of rescheduling earlier. Yikes.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm proud of you for going back into work even though you're going to have to wait several days for your hair cut. Doesn't it feel good to make the right-for-everyone decision?

erin - heart in ireland said...

Wow! sounds like quite an adventure at least you were able to find what they were looking for.


Seems like you made a good decision on the haircut.

Alison said...

Wow! I'd say that's a pretty successful day :) Nice work!

Anonymous said...

If that's not dedication, I don't know what is.

Anonymous said...

Ugh, I walked into work today, and my boss had a big paper with a detailed list of how I should work this new project. I hate his projects. I always do my best, a lot of work, go above and beyond, and NOTHING ever comes of it, EVER. I'm totally butt hurt about this one. Work sucks. At least yours had a semi-happy ending!