The CTA As Meat Market
By Scott Smith in Miscellaneous on Feb 14, 2006 4:46PM
Chicagoist refrains from trying to pick people up on the “L.” If you crash and burn, it’s too difficult to make a quick getaway. But maybe we need to rethink this strategy. After all, it's only a $2 cover and it's cheaper than a bar.
This piece on NWTimes.com tells the story of Amy Knittel, who snagged her husband during a Brown line ride. First, we need to hand it to Amy for thinking on her feet; Quincy’s only two stops from the Mart. But there are some unanswered questions here. Amy’s pickup line was “Hey, is that a Powerpuff Girls watch?" Nowhere in the article does it say whether A) that was just a clever line or if her future husband was actually wearing a PowerPuff Girls watch or B) why he was wearing a PowerPuff Girls watch in the first place. Chicagoist always took it on faith that wearing cartoon representations of little girls is a deal-breaker for most women, but apparently not.
Are more people thinking of falling in love (at least temporarily) on the “L” around Valentine’s Day? Not if Craiglist is any indication. The only missed connection posted today is from a guy on the Blue Line who saw a woman reading “The Logic of a Rose” at the Logan Square stop.
Personally, we always thought that posting our ideal date in Missed Connections would be a great what-have-you-got-to-lose way of snagging a date. At the very least, it’d be an interesting anthropological exercise to see who shows up. Something like:
“I saw you on the “L” today and developed an instant crush. I was charmed by your t-shirt that said “I ♥ Alan Greenspan” as well as your Lisa Loeb-style glasses and fishnet stockings that ended in a pair of worn Chuck Taylors. You were reading a book about British naval history and as I peeked at your iPod, I noticed you were listening to the greatest hits of the Sweet. If you’d care to meet a fellow Anglophile, I’ll be at the L&L Tavern at 8 p.m. I’ll be the guy in the “I ♥ John Kenneth Galbraith” t-shirt.
As one commenter reminded us yesterday, the “L” can be a hot time. So long as you’re with a prostitute and look good in a pair of Ray-Bans. Is picking up people on the train easier than we think?