I live about twenty minutes from Great Lakes Naval Base. This means that train rides into Chicago are made much more entertaining on weekends when all the navy boys ride down to the city to escape training and return drunk. Usually, we treat these experiences like an amusing side show, but occasionally there is some audience participation.

(Such as the lovely winter day a few years ago that began with two friends and I going to Millennium Park. Alas all the seats on the train were filled. Six gentlmen in uniform saw our stuggled and invite us to sit with them. We returned their hosptality by inviting three of them to go ice skating with us. It was an interesting day where we learned about life on a military base and the regulations for courting a woman while representing the United States Navy. Some of the rules included never letting her walk near the street and not holding hands but rather linking arms. Who says chilvary is dead? The day ended with us walking through the train station wearing their white hats).

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