Twenty Years Without A Weekend - Paperback

by Chris Churchill (Author)

For more than 20 years, Chris Churchill drove a tour trolley and gave tours throughout Chicago. WGN Radio's Justin Kauffman once referred to Churchill as "the most recognizable tour guide in the city". After telling stories about Chicago history and architecture, Churchill has a story about himself and his own journey. "Twenty Years Without A Weekend" is a series of vignettes and short stories from the life of a man who got stuck in a job he loved but that he knew he had to get out of. It is also about the friends and strangers that affected him deeply over those years. It is a story about finding a way to stop driving in circles and to finally get off the trolley. Not that Chris didn't love this extremely unique job, but sometimes, you know, it's just time to move on. If you've ever wondered what is really going on with that tour guide who is leading you around the tourist area of his town, then you're about to find out. If you've ever assumed that it must be a strange bunch that leads that life, you are right. What kind of person knows all that stuff? Are they nerds, savants, or are they just making it up as they go? (Spoiler alert: Sometimes it's all three.)Think of this book as a series of stops on a tour of the lives of characters in the story of Chris' trolley life. You can take all the stops in order or you can stop anywhere you'd like and enjoy the read in any order you please.Over the 20 years on the job, Chris built up a work family over and over again only to see them move on, retire, or in some cases, pass away, often far too young. The people who came to this life came from an array of previous life experiences and current life goals. Once they found each other, they became connected for life.Even though he loved the job, each and every year, Chris told himself, "This is probably my last year here." But every year, he stayed. Each year he became more comfortable in his job even though he knew it wasn't a career. This book is also about the widely varied, often peculiar experiences of Churchill and his colleagues. Their experiences together are experiences that are unique to the life of the trolley driver. Everything from being escorted by the secret service on an evacuated Lake Shore Drive to being chastised by privileged teens on his career choice. From making full trolleys of people happy to sharing one whole day with one solitary poet. There is an addiction to the hustle and pace of the summer months in this life, trying to squeeze a few dollars out of every tourist you meet. There are the magic moments of the multiple, short, intense relationships the tour guides make with the tourists every single day. There is the heartbreak of realizing that facilitating everyone else's fun does nothing to make the driver happy. Finally, the loneliness of being isolated in his rolling metal and glass office, after 20 years and realizing he needed to move on and spend time with his wife pushes Churchill to grow. Years of urging from his wife to find a way to make a living that allowed them to have their weekends together again finally worked. Read how that finally worked out.The tour is over for Chris. Now, Chris hopes that maybe, after telling all the stories of Chicago and about all the famous characters in Chicago's history to over a million tourists, you can add one more story to the history of Chicago. His. Yeah. He's just that pretentious. But, he really does hope you take the whole tour, you get wrapped up in the story, you laugh, you are touched, and you realize that the man at the front of the bus is more than just a driver. Also, he might be remembering everything you did today on his tour, and he might be writing it down later for an audience of readers.Chris is now an adjunct college professor of communication with one master's degree and working on his second.