Hizzoner

Breakfast with the Honorable Richard M. Daley was quite the event.

Rolling out of bed at 6:00 AM on a Saturday morning---not so much.

Conventional wisdom said get up, shut up and act like you have some sense. Quite frankly something either my mother or grandmother might have said.

I decided to follow that conventional wisdom despite my aspirations of flashing a pimped out grill to the mayor.

The process of going to an event with the mayor is fascinating. Since the overall group was going to be around 20-25 people we had to go through a vetting process of sorts.

That actually makes sense as you don’t want any loons getting to close to Chicago’s chief executive.

Then of course if one was foolish enough to attempt to do the mayor harm, the large and very menacing looking Chicago police officers that are his bodyguards should do enough to discourage the notion.

They are literally by his side (and outside his house) everywhere he goes.

Now I’m not sure if you good folks are familiar with the reputation of the Chicago Police Department but let’s just sum it up like this, the spirit of the ass kicking and name taking at the 1968 Democratic National Convention is still very much alive.

You do not want these ladies and gentlemen to take a professional interest in you. Trust me.

We were instructed to arrive around an hour prior to the start of the breakfast as the mayor had a tendency to arrive early.

We were seated and started in on the delicious food provided by the Five Loaves Restaurant when the mayor arrived.

My alderman introduced everyone individually to the mayor, a few brief remarks were made and we got down to the serious business of eating.

The food and the company were so good that I almost forgot that the mayor was sitting just one person over from me.

Not only did I have to act right but I also had to mind my table manners, so much for busting that toothpick out at the table.

Eventually our stomachs got full, the beverages were refilled and the mayor made his remarks.

That’s when it got interesting.