advice.v3...

every once in a while i get e-mails asking for advice on messengering. young cats trying their luck at making the job work for them as opposed to the other way around. i would hope that through my silly storytelling cats get a sense of the good and bad this industry has to offer. i would hope that cats that read this understand that, like every job, there are good and bad things but, unlike many jobs, sometimes the negatives outweigh the positives.

i've given advice a couple times before here and here but this time i decided to show cats how messengers get treated...obviously i can only show some pics here and there and add some words but, well, i hope you gain something...

the hancock...

look at it...second tallest building in chicago(actually, i am being told that "the can" or 200 east randolph wins by a few feet but this info is from shipwrek so not sure how reliable) and top five buildings, shit, top three buildings messengers hate, including me. there're several ways to access the lobby to this building but messengers don't have the luxury to them.

pedestrian entrance...

pedestrian entrance...

messenger entrance...

...wtf?! we/they get one freaking staircase that leads to the underground. not the lovely emerald city-like entrance but the dusty, greasy, dark underground. then you have to check in and yadayadayada...it sucks!

525(pedestrian entrance)...

525(messenger entrance)...

...another building similar sh*t. pedestrian entrance looks pretty cool, right? big open windows. lots of light, space, and so on. messengers...go through the alley and check in at the dock. then, similar to the hancock, wait for the one freight elevator that you get access to. oh yeah, you have to leave your bag downstairs when you check in...why? i have no idea but you do...guess what? security doesn't really make sure no one takes what isn't there's. i could walk in and grab three bags and they would never stop me...sucks!

135(pedestrian entrance)...

135(messenger entrance)...

135(messenger entrance)...

...the minute i say 135 over the radio i can see the faces of my crew just cringing. this building is horrible. you have to walk through a specific door on the side of the huge garage door to get to the where the huge garage door leads...wtf?! did that make sense to anyone cause if it did...no one likes you. once you get in you have to check in and leave your bag. this wouldn't be so bad except that the guards there care very, very, very little for messengers. they take their sweet-a** time filling out the building pass. once you make it through that then you wait in line to take one of two freights. i said two but they service different floors so you actually just take one. even then, the building is constantly being repaired or renovated or something which means the elevators stop at every freaking floor and gets jammed packed with construction cats along with messengers...f*ck!!! i should state that this building was also the inspiration for the naccc's shirt this year. bird crapping on 135...priceless...

pic by amy...

do you cats see a pattern here? now i know why i would be somewhat grumpy at the end of a shift. now i know why my crew gets all angry quick at the simplest things. messengers do not get treated right. im sure many have heard the ol..."to get respect you have to give respect". well, if these buildings want messengers to act right why don't they treat them right? sh*t...just from these silly pics you can tell how much darker and filthy messenger access to a building is. most of the time it's through alleys or underground or sorts. this isn't good...at all.

200 s. wacker(pedestrian)...

200 s. wacker(messenger)...

300 e. randolph(pedestrian)...

300 e. randolph(messenger)...

i hope i was able to paint somewhat of a picture as to what my crew and others deal with on a daily basis. much respect goes out to all the soldiers out there putting up with the sillyness chicago throws at them. keep up the work people...safe ride home...peace.