My 30 day transit pass happened to expire right around the time I was at the intersection of Lawrence and Western. Thankfully, there is a Walgreens on that corner. I've never been inside, but I've walked by a lot, and there are always pigeons milling about. This does not give this Walgreens an air of sophistication, so I was a bit weary as I walked in.
Immediately, I knew something was up. I didn't see any staff at the registers, so I decide I would just move deeper into the store without looking around. If you look around and find the trouble, you could risk becoming a witness, and that was the last thing I wanted to do that day. I decided I could do with a beverage, and moved toward the cold cases. That's when I noticed someone staring at the Walgreen's entrance, saying with mild panic, "There's a pigeon in here!"
In a mid-western accent, a reply comes from about ten feet in front of me, "Well, tell them to move away from the door, or all the pigeons will come in! We already have one over there!" And she points toward the check out stands.
I follow her finger with my gaze and sure enough, I see a pigeon. All Hell breaks loose. Mid-western accents are flying! "But he'll get in my hair!" "Oh no he'll poop on me!" "What are we going to do?!"
The woman behind the photo counter takes charge. She tells Sam to capture that pigeon and take it outside.
Sam gets a ladder.
Sam gets a towel. (Really, a pink fleece type thing.)
Sam gets some courage.
Sam places the towel over the pigeon.
Someone shrieks. "Did you get him!?!? Oh no, did he go behind the sign?"
Sam reaches up to grab the towel he placed over the pigeon. Apparently these pigeons haven't been trained in combat. He slowly pulls the bundle toward him and descends the latter. "Oh, I got him."
Sam walks to the door. A woman who I determine to be the cashier follows him. I follow her. I need my CTA pass. We are near the door and the registers. She is just staring out the door. I decide to say, "So, do you carry CTA pass.."
But I'm interrupted when Sam comes back, and the cashier says, "Wow, Sam, that was amazing! Where did you learn to do that?!"
Sam just shrugs and mumbles, "Uhh, it happens a lot.."
The cashier continues, "Oh my gash, that pigeon was going to get in my hair, and you gat him, Sam!"
Sam walks away.
The cashier has hands on her hips, shaking her head in the sheer disbelief of a close call.
I speak again.
She turns to me, sees the line of people that has now formed, and goes around to her side of the register. I say hello. She says, "Did you see that pigeon?!"
I said, "So, do you carry 30 day CTA passes?"
She looks at me with wide eyes and says, "Oh, I'm gonna have to call back for that."
I put on my serious face and say, "Okay. Let's do it."
So she does. Then she looks at me. "Did you see that pigeon? I thought it was going to get in my hair! And Sam just captured it like it was nothing!"
"Oh, yeah, that was something alright."
The manager comes up with my pass, I pay, and as I'm leaving I heard the cashier say to the woman behind me, "Did you see that pigeon?"
