647 is a number that will hold a special significance for me until the day I start blogging from the great beyond, because of a drugstore in Lincoln Park that I had the pleasure of managing for four and a half years. My former company assigned stores a three digit number, and this one was 647. The store was on the border of at least six different neighborhoods, ranging from Cabrini Green, one of the poorer sections of Chicago, to the Gold Coast, one of the richest neighborhoods in the country.
Managing in a retail environment is tough anywhere, but the mix of people interacting daily at this location made the experience unforgettable. I saw things at this store that I never saw anywhere else-naked shoplifters, million dollar jewelry, just a few examples. But as stressful as it was to run the place, it was also the best location I ever managed. I met a lot of inspirational people, both customer and associate, and we had a great deal of success. I did my best managing job there, and will always be proud and thankful for the experience.
The reason I have been fixating a lot on good ol' 647 lately is that I seem to be catching that number in my sights recently. I pass a bank with a time and temperature reading on the front, and it's 6:47; I'm looking for a specific address and the first building I see is #647; this morning I woke up, rolled over to see what time it was, and the clock said 6:47; and the first time I went to this blog site today, I noticed the "hit" counter said I had a total of 647 visitor to the site since its inception.
If the powers that be had left me at that store instead of insisting I move on to another location I would probably still be in that business, but I also think that things happen for a reason, and that in the grand scheme of things I was supposed to leave that career. I'm sure the plethora of 647's is just to remind me of that time, and of the changes in my life since. Purely coincidental yet fully able to supply a meaning.
Now I notice that when I came to the blog to write this entry that the hit counter is up to 666. We used to say that 647 was the "drugstore from hell." Think I will have to leave that one alone.
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