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In this episode, Charles Adams shares insights from his decades-long career at the Chicago Transit Authority, offering a behind-the-scenes look at what keeps the trains running. His journey from track maintenance worker to inspector reveals the complex ecosystem of professionals needed to maintain Chicago's vital transit system.
• Working in track maintenance since 1999, ensuring infrastructure stays safe and functional
• Public transportation careers extend far beyond drivers and conductors to include engineers, accountants, maintenance crews, and administrative staff
• Time management and safety are paramount concerns in public transit operations
• CTA offers career opportunities with training regardless of formal education
• Public transportation serves as a vital connector between neighborhoods and communities
• Budget challenges and pandemic adaptations reveal the resilience of transit systems
• Taking pride in public service means focusing on passenger needs and safety
• Union representation helps negotiate for better working conditions and job security
• Potential extension of transit lines to suburbs and new Chicago Bears stadium
• Work-life balance essential to combat stress in transportation careers
If you're interested in learning more about careers at the Chicago Transit Authority, visit www.chicagotransitauthority.com to explore available positions and opportunities.
Great conversations and a place where independent filmmakers can be highlighted.
Hello, and thank you for listening to Thirsty Topics podcast! I'm Lawrence Elrod, and every week Meryl Klemow and I dive deep into the stories that matter, the conversations that shape our world."
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Hello everyone, welcome to this week's episode
of Thirsty Conversations.
I'm Lawrence Elrod.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
And I am Kristen Willinga.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
And today is actually a very special day, and the
reason why I say that is I havea good friend of mine that we're
going to be interviewing.
He's worked in the publictransportation industry for a
number of years In fact, we'rechildhood friends, been knowing
each other almost 50 years andit's definitely a pleasure to
have him on here Everyone.
(00:48):
Please welcome Charles Adams tothe show.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Charles whoo.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Thanks for having me, guys.
Thanks for having me.
How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
this morning, charles , I'm doing good.
What about yourself?
You know what am?
I'm blessed.
I could complain, but no onecares, right?
Well, uh, I know you've beenworking for cta particular for a
number of years.
Um, can you kind of telleveryone you know a little bit
(01:20):
about yourself?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
a little bit about yourself.
Like you said, I've been withthe Chicago Transit Authority
since 1999.
Good career, seen a lot ofthings.
Like you said in the beginning,we're childhood friends, grew
up same neighborhood, went tothe same grammar school, high
school.
We went our different ways andstarted our lives, started our
careers and it's good to be herenow to interact with you and
(01:55):
your co-hosts and just to talkabout some things I could share
from my experience and knowledgeof the Chicago Transit
Authority.
So I'm a simple guy, easy guy,family guy, you know, just
living life, loving life to thefullest.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
So what do you do at CTA, like do you drive something
?
Are you an accountant?
What is your role?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
You, know that's a good question.
You know, when people think ofCTA, the first thing they think
of is someone driving a bus orsomeone driving a train.
There's a lot of people behindso the trains could stay on.
(03:03):
We we keep the tracks in goodcondition so people could be
safe getting to theirdestination from A to B.
So I've been doing this since99.
I started off in a gang so Iwas doing more demolition work,
tan up, putting up some new soit could last a period of time.
Now I became an inspector.
It's just walking and a lot ofmath, a lot of measurement, a
(03:28):
lot of writing.
I've been in several differentdepartments pertaining to the
track department, so I love itand enjoy it and, um, I'm very
concerned about the safety andthe conditions of the track so
people can get to theirdestinations the safety and the
conditions of the track sopeople could get to their
(03:49):
destinations.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
You know, charles, I'm actually pretty interested.
What got you into this careerin the first place?
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Oh, that's a good question.
You know, for years we alwaysrode the AL and I was curious,
just to.
You know, as a kid you look outthe window and you take a view
Kids always been fascinatedabout trains, the speed, the
power, what it looks like, andever since I was a kid I always
(04:15):
got like a racing car set or atrain set.
You know, I used to put thetrain set around the Christmas
trees and I was alwaysfascinated about the driver, the
conductor, the outfit, the hat.
I never thought I'd see myselfat ETA.
Honestly, you know I alwayswanted to be an athlete or
something, but the job waspresented to me and I fell in
(04:39):
love with the job.
I really fell in love with thejob.
Take the job very serious.
I love trains.
People ask me all the time howcan I get a conduct that head?
How can I get a train set?
Uh, do they still have tokens?
Uh, they want to know thehistory of the train.
How fast does it go?
And not only just the chicagotransit authority.
(05:06):
I get to ride all the transitthat travels through chicago and
throughout chicago, each one ofthem.
Like, we have a suburban trainwhich is called the metro.
It goes much faster.
So I know that.
Uh, some history of the trains,and I'm fascinated about trains
.
I love trains, you know, andit's a good way to travel.
If you're going out of town, uh, some people prefer the
airplane, but, believe it or not, driving a train, the view is
beautiful.
You know, you're going out oftown some people prefer the
airplane, but, believe it or not, driving a train, the view is
(05:27):
beautiful.
You know, you're going to go onthrough mountains, going over
water, the scenery, and sothat's the beauty of a train,
and you get to conversate withpeople, have some good
conversations.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
So when it came to getting into this field, did you
first have to go to school forany sort of engineering or
technical school, or were youtrained on the job?
Speaker 3 (05:51):
You know CTA, you got a mixture.
You got people with degrees, nodegrees.
We do have in-house schooling,depend on what position you're
going for.
And basically, CTA look for thebasics If you can see the
potential in a person you'regoing for.
And basically, CTA look for thebasics.
If you can see the potential ina person and you see the basic
and you see where a person couldgrow, we're willing to train
(06:12):
and teach, Depending on whatdepartment you're going to.
So you need that mixture.
You need a mixture of both andit works out well.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
You know, what's interesting, charles, is that
when people think of publictransportation, they generally
think of bus driver, conductormaybe the maintenance people
that you see work in the tribes,people that they actually see
on a day-to-day basis.
I'm quite sure there's a lot ofother careers and a lot of the
(06:43):
things that goes on behind thescenes, as far as career-wise,
that someone could look into youknow your co-host brought out a
point about.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
There are people that handle the budget, there are
people in human resource, thereare people that's out in the
field, there's people that's inthe office.
There's the engineers there,there's people who draw up the
blueprints, there's the laborperson, there's the janitor
person, there's the mechanics.
We even had electricians, thecarpenters, the plumbers,
(07:15):
because our transit system justdon't go on the ground.
We go elevated, we go over theexpressway, we go in the subways
, so we need key people in thosepositions that have that.
We have people that handle thelights, the garbage.
We have people that handlepayroll.
(07:36):
We have people that handle themanpower.
We have represented thespokesperson.
So when we do have accidents orthings like that, we have
people that go speak out.
We have safety people.
So we're a big family.
We got so many departments, somany Java classifications that
(07:57):
you could think of.
So it's one big family, butit's a common goal to get people
to where they need to go Safe,on time, clean service.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
So, since we're talking about behind the scenes
sort of things, what do youthink is just like one major
thing that most riders don'tknow about keeping the trains
running on time daily?
I mean, are there certainthings that you're like man?
Before I worked here, I had noidea that you know that's a good
(08:30):
question.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
If manpower is always talked about you, it's like
having a team.
You need a good amount ofpeople.
Everybody played a part andit's uh.
Dealing with transportation isnot easy because you got to have
the right people in position.
They got to be trained properly, especially when you're dealing
with time, getting peoplesaying we're going to get you
(08:54):
from a to b at this time, and ifyou don't, sometimes I would
feel we fail and we try to finda way to make it up.
So our job is to really managetime well.
Time is so important.
If you get off to a bad start,that means the rest of the day
you know could go bad.
So time is important and westress time safety.
(09:16):
Uh, uh, courtesy, being politeto the customers, it's a lot to
go behind the scenes.
I mean it's not always pretty.
You know people only see thefront of it, but they don't see
the behind the scenes.
It's a lot of work behind thescenes.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
You know, Charles, you actually hit on a great
point and you know when you lookat things behind the scenes and
things of that nature.
What does people need to know,as far as if someone were to
work for CTA or any other publictransportation, that they
should know in order to besuccessful?
Speaker 3 (09:53):
there.
One is to respect time.
Respect time, follow the rules.
Rules are in place to keep youin line.
A lot of people don't likerules.
They don't like to be told whatto do.
They're instructions to helpyou do your job well.
(10:17):
We have what we call SOPs.
They're like rules andregulations.
If you do this, if you do that,the consequences, things of
that nature.
So coming into CTA, people mustrealize it is a good career job
being focused.
You have to be focused becausedealing with a train and a bus,
(10:40):
we're talking about the safetythe safety of people and the
safety of the employees.
So safety is stress and we alsotell people you know you can't
be high, you can't be drunkbecause you operate in the
machine and we have so manypeople in our hand that you want
(11:03):
to stay focused.
You have to stay focused.
You got to take safety serious.
You got to take time seriousand you have to do your job well
and perform and you earn yourcheck.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Okay, so we have talked about the serious stuff.
Do you have a specific day, orlike an event that really made
you proud, or like grateful todo what you do?
Speaker 3 (11:34):
You know, we have a couple events.
We have something that's calleda rodeo.
It's annually and we all comeout.
It's like a big family.
We come out.
You can bring your family,families.
Uh, we have, uh, uh, the cityof chicago.
We have something like thejesse white timely team, so we
have some people that canentertain you.
Uh, gifts, we compete againstone another.
(11:57):
Do you remember your rules?
Or who the fastest is on abobcat?
Or?
Uh, you know all the rules to atrain.
So it's a good family event.
And and then you also have theunions.
They have the annual likepicnics and events.
So we honor each other likethat.
(12:19):
If people care to participate,that's a good thing.
We also give out.
I was talking to Lawrence aboutcertificate.
You get five years.
You get a certificate.
You feel appreciated.
It means a lot.
You get buns.
It's like being in the military.
You can put on your shirt oryou can put on your hat.
Guys love that.
All the little gadgets, thecoolers, the water bottles, so
(12:44):
you feel appreciated.
It means a lot Knowing thatsomebody is watching you,
knowing that you're doing yourjob that's nice.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Yeah, that's very nice.
I mean, I didn't know.
Uh, cta did all that.
That's actually pretty cool.
We got a lot of toys.
Well, I'm quite sure you'vecollected quite a few things
over the years give away a lotof stuff.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
I could give you some stuff.
I can give both of y'all somestuff Bags, book bags, you name
it, Tool sets you know I wasgoing to say where are all your
pins?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
I expected some pins on your hat, or yeah, come on.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
You know now, Monday through Friday, yeah, Weekend me
Got it, Got it.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
I love that.
And actually that leads me intomy next question, charles.
I know that lately, you know,the big trend is really putting
a focus on mental health,especially in men, because, you
know, for a long time, you know,we never really talked about
our feelings.
You know someone asks us howwe're doing, we're like, no, I'm
(13:49):
good, even if it's not true.
What do you do to kind ofdecompress and kind of give time
for yourself?
You know, either physically,mentally, something that would
kind of help you go, ah cool,everything's fine, and just kind
of relax yourself.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
You know from the job .
I tell people, especially theyoung guys, don't bring your job
home and sometimes we tend tobring the job home.
Or you talk to your spouse, you, you talk about the job too
much when you come home.
You got to just leave it rightthere and relax.
I call it woosaw.
So I don't care if you gottalisten to some jazz, you gotta
(14:31):
read a book, go for a walk, workout uh, that's why I love
gardening.
I love gardening, I loveworking out.
And you, you gotta release you.
You can't bring it home.
Some people keep it all bottledin and they trap themselves and
they hurt themselves that way.
So it was meant for us torelease, get rid of it, detox it
(14:52):
and, like I say, don't becomplacent and be focused.
You have to be focused andthat's the key, and I know it's
not always easy, but you have tofind some type of out.
You have to too.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I love that.
So when it comes to, I guess,how you feel about your job, how
does it feel?
Because I mean, I think it'sneat.
How does it feel being a partof something that's so essential
to so many people's daily life?
(15:28):
Does it feel like a lot ofpressure, or do you feel
important?
Speaker 3 (15:33):
You know what I take pride in my job.
You're always going to havesome employees.
They just there, they justthere for a check.
But you got to take your jobserious, you got to care and I'm
always a believer that I liketo see the job go from
generation to generation to getbetter and better, to go forward
(15:55):
.
It can get better and I seechanges and some people don't
like the changes, but change ishere.
So I do take it serious.
I don't take it lightly, Ienjoy it.
Take it seriously.
I don't take it lightly, Ienjoy it.
I like to see people smile,like yourself, happy, and I can
look back and say I played a bigpart in that and I really
(16:16):
believe in that and that's partof building your legacy as well.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Absolutely.
Well, I have to ask thisquestion here, but obviously
people in the chicagoland areakind of know what's going on,
with the potential budget issuesbeing that, um, for whatever
reason, um, the amount of moneyappropriated hasn't shown up in
the budget or they're addressinglater.
(16:45):
We don't know yet.
It's still being looked at.
But kind of tell people fromyour perspective um, if there is
a massive budget shortage, whatdoes that mean?
Well, we.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
We know it can lead to people losing their jobs,
being laid off, and you don'tlike to see nobody getting laid
off.
Uh, one thing I learned aboutcta we always try to find a
solution.
Uh, the last thing you want todo is, you know, to lay off
people because you need, youneed people, you need body.
(17:19):
I always like to say you needall hands on deck.
Uh, hopefully they come up witha solution.
We do have a timetable.
Maybe 40 years out, maybesomething will be solved.
And that's what I always lookfor and I always encourage
people to don't get down.
(17:40):
You have to do what you have todo.
It's been tough, lawrence.
It's really been tough.
A lot of people are panicking,some people are retiring, some
people are retiring so they canmake room for the people.
That's with less than you'renot gonna understand.
(18:02):
It's a waiting game.
Let me put it to you that way.
It's a waiting game.
You just have to wait.
All parties got to get togetherand hopefully come up with the
right solutions so we cancontinue to go forward, because,
uh, public transportation is soimportant in the city of
chicago, so we have to come tosome common ground, some
(18:23):
agreement where we could keep itgoing with all the people.
We need to keep our with allthe people we need to keep
public transportation going.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
So and you talk a little bit about change also and
I'm sure change is coming with,you know the budget issue and
how that's going to get resolved.
Are there any specific thingsthat with those changes that
you're like excited about orthat you could see or hope get
improved with some of thesechanges that might be happening?
Speaker 3 (18:53):
you know, some people don't like a baby.
A baby don't like to be changed.
They're staying that diaper.
Well, but sometimes change is.
Sometimes change is necessaryfor the improvement and the
better throughout my career Ihave saw where change really
works and it helps.
You may not agree witheverything in change, but you
(19:17):
have to adjust to change and alot of people don't like to
adjust.
So when they don't adjust, somepeople leave, go somewhere else
, they retire.
It took me a while to get usedto the change, but I kind of
like it as long as it's headedin the right direction, and
that's what it's about.
Improving it's not always tohow should I say, maybe take
(19:42):
away, but it's always to improve.
Having the company continue togo forward.
That's what it's about, notbackwards but forward.
So I'm not a person that'sagainst change as long as it's
for the right purpose and reason.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
I love that.
Yeah, hey, charles, let me askyou this If someone were to
become an employee for anypublic transportation, whether
it be CTA or any other massproduction line, what type of
person would be successfulworking in public transportation
(20:17):
?
Speaker 3 (20:19):
That's a very good question and I preach on this a
lot Customer service, you haveto have the right attitude,
because anytime you serve inpeople, you have to be patient.
You have to have the rightattitude.
You got to be direct.
You have to be very helpful.
You just can't just be a bodyJust like you guys.
(20:40):
You bring out the energy, thepersonality, the character.
You have to have the rightpeople on the front line because
you're welcoming customers intoyour public transportation and
you want to greet them well.
You want to feel like oh, Iappreciate this, I could ride
(21:00):
this train again, I could ridethis bus again.
But if you have a badpersonality, nobody is not going
to support you.
That's like in any business.
You know, in a restaurant, ifyou get a bad waitress, you
don't want that waitress no more.
So you need the right people inthe position to make the job
successful.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
That's a good point Do you have a story or you know
a most memorable interactionwith a writer?
Speaker 3 (21:28):
I have a lot of them with a rider.
I have a lot of them becauseone thing about me I my position
, I really don't deal with thepublic, but sometimes the public
see us because I have companytrucks or cars or whatever.
But when I talks to some of thecustomer I like helping, I know
that direction.
I don't want nobody lost.
(21:48):
So if they tell me like, say, Iwant to get to the Sears Tower,
I want to get to Wrigley Field,I want to get to Soldier Field,
I'm familiar with the system,where to go and this, and that I
want to be polite, I want tomake sure they get there.
If they don't know how topurchase their ticket, I even
lead them to the machine.
(22:09):
I know about the machine, eventhough it's not my job, but I
don't want to see nobody lostand I can tell when somebody's
lost because they're looking upat the sky for a long time.
So I feel you know, because Iby me, represent cta, I'm a part
of the company and I feel likesometimes, sometimes we may have
(22:31):
to do some jobs outside of ourjob, even though I'm not getting
paid for that, but it's justhelping out, it's being that
team player.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Now you know I have to put you on the spot next year
.
What is your most proud or yourbest moment that you've had
working for CTA?
Speaker 3 (22:56):
You know what, Anytime you could accomplish a
project less than the timeexpected, that's an
accomplishment.
For instance, we have a big joband they give us six months to
do it and we do it in fourmonths.
That's, that's a proud moment.
And then you sit back and youwatch the finished results of it
(23:18):
.
Sometimes I may drive on theexpressway and pull over and
look like man, I played a partin that accomplishment.
So I saw a lot of projects thatwe finished, a lot of jobs that
we got done, where people arehappy.
And to go back and answer yourco-host's question about I never
(23:42):
had a bad moment with apassenger.
I always try to be helpful,even when I see them do wrong.
For instance, there's a youngman.
He's about to light up acigarette.
I pulled him to the side.
I had to talk to him on hislanguage.
I was like you know, we gotpolice upstairs.
Man, I don't want to see noscene.
They'll give you a big fine.
They can tackle you.
(24:03):
This will be all on the news.
He said good, looking out, oldtime.
I said you know I can't stopyou from smoking, but just not
here.
And he said I really appreciatethat because he could have,
could have suffered jail time,got in trouble, and it's just
knowing how to talk to people.
And that's what it's aboutknowing how to talk to people.
(24:23):
If you give them I know thatsometimes you have to be firm
and direct I get it.
But if you could start off andkind of talk to them the right
way, you know, you'll get betterresults.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
You know, I love the fact that you actually did that
because, unfortunately, there'sa lot of people who'd be like,
well, that's not my problem andjust keep going.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Right, right, right.
That's why I say that's just aperson at work, don't care.
They just wait for payday.
That's it.
Yeah, you it.
Yeah, you know you always gonnahave some slackers.
That's that's life.
And then you have some peoplethat go beyond the call of duty.
You got some people that's justgonna follow the rules because
they don't want to get introuble.
Nobody wants to get suspendedor get written up, but anyway
(25:06):
you can help a person and thattakes pressure off you.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
That's how I look at it so, speaking of you know
rules and regulations.
Um, I'm sure you had a lot morewhen Kovac hit um how did that
change things?
And and did it change thingspermanently, or have they kind
of gone back to business asusual?
Speaker 3 (25:28):
from Kov covid that's a very good question.
That was a big challenge for us.
You know, cta never sleeps.
Uh, social distance was reallypreached.
We had to wear our mask, be insafety.
Safety is always first.
Um, you know, of course we hadto get the vaccination.
(25:51):
It was a different feel, it wasreally a different feel.
You know, during that time,ridership did go down.
As workers, we still had to besafe.
(26:11):
You know, instead of two peopledriving like in a van or a
truck, it narrowed down to oneperson.
It was mandatory that we wear amask.
It was mandatory that, uh, wekept our distance.
So it was more safe, it wasmore and, uh, we did what we had
to to keep the locations clean,be aware, be alert, really
(26:36):
protecting one another.
So that was a challenging timebut we made it through.
We made it through.
Some people, you know, somepeople died.
Some workers died.
That was sad.
Some people really got sick,through it all, uh, but we had
to continue to go forward.
We had to continue to goforward.
(26:57):
We still people were stillgetting on the train and buses,
not as much because of what wasgoing on around the world, but
it really that's a life-changingexperience for anybody.
I never saw nothing like thatin my lifetime nothing
experience for anybody.
I never saw nothing like thatin my lifetime nothing.
And I was so blessed I nevergot colby.
I did what I had to do.
(27:18):
Um, we was buying orange juicefor each other, drinking a lot
of tea and sanitizer whatever wehad to do gloves, uh but
everybody was looking at eachother.
Like you know, as soon as youhear somebody sneeze, everybody
freak out.
You know it was a differentexperience.
Yeah, I have, I haveexperienced that in my lifetime,
but we made it through.
So we hear that I could talkabout it.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
We made it through I gotta imagine that had to have
made your job kind of difficult,because obviously there's
certain tasks where you needmultiple people doing yeah it,
you know it.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
It got slower because of manpower.
Um, there's people that didn'twant to take, uh, the vaccine.
They're right, you know.
So we had to do.
We had to do.
Some people had to pick up theslack, somebody else lagged
because, you know, whateverreason, and that's their right.
(28:16):
So you can't force nobody andthat's your right.
But I did what I had to dobecause I look at, I look at
family.
You know you have to do whatyou have to do for family.
I look at that.
So I look at the bigger picture.
Uh, it wasn't new, you know,but for some reason some people
just didn't want it to take it.
(28:38):
You know that's their rightyeah, um.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
So.
So I guess, coming coming backfrom covet, um did Were there
any changes that you made duringCOVID that have stuck?
Speaker 3 (28:53):
You know, I believe everything is coming back to
normal.
We've gotten back there, butyou still have a few people that
are very, you know, cautious.
You know ridership is pickingback up.
It's getting back to normal.
It's really getting back tonormal.
(29:14):
That took a while, you knowthat took a while, and that's a
good thing.
You want everything to get backto normal where people could
enjoy themselves, you know,getting to work, getting to
whatever event they have to goto, even in the workforce.
So we're getting back to normal, normal and that's what you
want yeah, oh, absolutely yeahnow I'm very curious about this.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
now, obviously illinois, um, is a on the state
level where you can smokemarijuana legally.
Kind of clear up themisconception about driving a
commercial vehicle withmarijuana, because some people
have this and you know what I'mtalking about here.
Some people have this crazyidea and the only reason I know
(30:02):
this is because you know I soldcommercial trucks for so many
years.
A lot of people have this ideathat well, you know it's legal
to buy marijuana, so you knowit's not a problem.
You're smoking, smoking it anddriving a bus or train.
And can you kind of clear thatup a little bit?
Speaker 3 (30:16):
My God, Wow, you know , we take random drug tests, we
take random alcohol tests.
You know you cannot be highdriving any vehicle and you're
responsible for lives in yourhands.
Not be high driving any vehicleand you're responsible for
lives in your hands.
So you know that's a no-no.
Now, what you do on your, yourfree time, is your business.
(30:38):
But operating uh, uh, any typeof machinery operation, such as
a bus, a train, even theequipment that I'm around like a
crane, a bulldozer, a bobcat,you want people to be sober and
focused.
You cannot be.
Uh, you know too much of that.
No way know how.
(30:58):
That don't mean you have thefreedom to do what you want.
No, you still have rules inplace, you know.
Do you think you can functionbetter drunk or sober Better
drunk?
Speaker 1 (31:11):
or sober, so okay.
So I have a very strong, strongopinion about this, so I'm
curious about yours.
What role do you feel publictransit plays in connecting
people and neighborhoods andcommunities?
Speaker 3 (31:29):
That's a very good question.
You know, in the city ofChicago you have suburbs that
touch the city of Chicago and wehave other community trains and
buses so we all connect as it'sa family RTA we call it RTA and
you have a suburb bus that getsclose to the city.
(31:51):
Then the CTA pick them up andtake them to their destination.
So we all connect with family.
They're really trying to mergeus all together, to work
together.
But there's been some problemswith that because the suburbs
wanna stick to theirtransportation, the city wanna
stick to their transportation,city want to stick to their
(32:12):
transportation.
So, uh, in the city of chicagothey really trying to merge all
of us together.
So will it work?
Possibly, you know, orextending the lines.
So we're in the process ofextending uh services to the
suburbs services to the suburbs.
So we've been working on that.
Uh like, uh, cta only goes citylimits, but now we're trying to
(32:45):
extend it where it goes, uh, inthe beginning of some suburbs,
or further north or furthersouth.
Uh, it could work.
It could work.
It takes teamwork and all theleaders coming together to make
it happen.
It could happen, maybe notwhile I'm still here.
When I retire.
I could see it five years fromnow.
I could really see it, oh wow.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Do you see a public benefit to that, or what is your
opinion on extending lines?
Speaker 3 (33:08):
I can, especially because you know, especially
when you're dealing with, whenyou have airports, jobs, schools
, some people go so far and somepublic transportation don't go
as far.
So if we could extend it now weservicing everybody the city
and the outer skirts of the city, and that's a plus.
(33:31):
That's a plus Because you knowyou can't always get the cab
driver, so anyway we couldservice people through public
transportation or the metro, orwe got another system called the
PACE, so wherever we servepeople to get people to their
destination.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Now you know, I got two questions as a follow-up to
that is one if CTA goes into thebordering suburbs, would it
still be known as CTA or wouldit transfer over to RTA?
Speaker 3 (34:06):
You know, that's a good question, lawrence.
That's probably on the table.
That's a good question,lawrence.
That's, that's probably on thetable.
That's a very good question.
All the presidents of those um,those transportation, they,
they come together on it.
That's a very good question.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
So I haven't heard nothing about that yet, but
that's a very good question now,the second part of my question
being that both of us arediehard Chicago Bears fans
through and through.
Now I don't know if it's on thetable or they're talking behind
the scenes.
(34:40):
Being that the Bears are goingback and forth, I personally
think it's going to end up inTarleton Heights, unless
something dramatic happens.
But if that happens, do youthink, from what you're seeing,
that there's going to be a pointwhere CTA extends all the way
out to the new stadium inTarleton Heights?
Speaker 3 (34:54):
It's a possibility.
Anything's possible Throughoutthe history, like the blue line,
for instance.
We call it the blue line andthat extended to the airports.
We have two lines that extendto the airport.
It did happen.
I have the dates of that,that's a plus.
(35:15):
So, extending to Soldier FieldI believe they would try to
extend it as far as they couldgo and then maybe a suburb bus
could pick it up from there.
So I can see that, I really cansee that, and you made a good
point on that, um, because totake a cab or uber, that's a
(35:36):
nice distance from the city, youknow.
So I can't see that and Ibelieve it's in the making when
I don't know, but I, I believe,is it's going to happen and it
goes back to the beginning ofour.
What we was talking about change.
A lot of change is here,beginning of our what we was
talking about change.
A lot of change is here and,and some people going to be in
(35:57):
an uproar no, I don't want thecity coming out here and that's
too far.
And, uh, why don't we keep thebears right here?
So it's been going back andforth, back and forth, so I'm
hearing it from different angles, different people.
Uh, who knows what the futureholds.
I really can see it happening,cuz I believe the people of
Chicago.
They wanna see the Bears move,they wanna see a championship,
(36:21):
they wanna see a dome, theywanna see the city of Chicago
host a Super Bowl.
It's at Arlington Heights andthat's what a lot of
professional teams are doing now.
They're taking the teams out ofthe city and taking them to the
suburbs because of the land,and that's one of the biggest
reasons because of the land.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
Good point.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Well, I'm a Lions fan , so I understood like halfway
through.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
Well, we got your coach.
I like that.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
Okay, but I do have a question.
So, and only because my mydad's a truck driver, right, and
I know he's got just his dailylike routine of where he goes
for his morning coffee, where hegets his bagel, do you have a
morning routine Like?
Do you have your favorite likepit stops?
Speaker 3 (37:11):
you do every day that you're like I can't function
without my blueberry muffin,sort of sort of thing I, like
you said that, and I and I dealwith the truck drivers when they
bring in their goods and stuffand I have to unload them and
stuff like that.
I've been cut from the oldschool and I learned from the
old guys.
They it's like they need thatmorning breakfast to get them
(37:33):
going.
They need that coffee, maybethat donut, maybe that short
conversation, maybe that sporttalk, maybe a couple of jokes,
just to get it going.
So that's the morale up.
So that's an excellent point.
So traditionally I continue todo that and every new guy to
come in I take them alongteaching the routine.
(37:54):
Hey, start your day off here.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
This and that and yeah, to ask you a question, yes
, and I love it nice now,charles, when people look at
this interview and there'sprobably people already thinking
man, man, you know, that wouldprobably be a great career.
Love to do that.
What advice would you givesomeone who really seriously
(38:18):
wants to get into publictransportation?
You know, whether it be workingmaintenance, whether it be
driving a truck or maybe even anoffice.
What advice would you give them?
Speaker 3 (38:30):
First, I'm going to put this in place.
We have a lot of trades atChicago Transit Store A lot of
trades.
I tell a lot of young peoplethat CTA is still one of the
best jobs to have in the city ofChicago.
You can have your career here.
(38:51):
You can.
Best jobs to have in the cityof chicago you can have your
career here.
You can.
Uh, sometimes when a person getout of college they may not be
able to go into their field, butat chicago transit door we have
something you can get intobased off, you know, your
educational background.
So cta has something foreverybody.
Uh, I think a lot of peoplelook at when they see a person
(39:14):
at a cta uniform, right awaythey see money signs.
That's first thing.
They look at cta.
A lot of money, you know.
But when you actually apply forthe job in the position and you
see what you're reallyinterested in, make sure that's
what you really want to do.
And I tell people, make surethat's what you really want to
(39:34):
do.
Are you here for a paycheck oryou really want to make a
difference?
It's the money always going tobe there, but you want to make a
difference.
You want to bring yourknowledge, your experience, your
skill set, your talent,whatever it may be, to make a
difference at the job.
So I'm always encouraging youngpeople when they come in,
because I see people come in andI see people go.
(39:54):
They say that's not the job forme.
My mother told me to go here.
Uh, cta is also a family joband I I touched on this before
that um, you have three, four,five generations of family at my
job and that's good.
Sometimes you may not be able tofind something out in the world
(40:17):
in your field.
Come to CTA, you may findsomething there.
You can always go to ourwebsite
wwwchicagotransportaureatecom.
It's a lot of jobs, greatopportunities.
If you're in college, you cando your intern.
It's a lot of opportunities atCTA.
You're in college, you can doyour intern, no-transcript, not
(40:37):
a bad job.
It has changed people's lives.
People have been blessedthrough it.
I've seen a lot of great thingshappen at CTA and a lot of
people prosper from it.
And to see people retire thatput in so many years and they're
gone on, they're relaxing, andjust to see their children,
(40:58):
their children's children, getin, that's a blessing.
So I'm always encouragingpeople if you want to come here,
be serious about it and make ita career.
Don't look at how many yearsyou got to do.
Make it a career.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
Was there anything so just to save anybody grief?
When you first started orwithin the first few years, were
there any big challenges youfeel you had to overcome in
order to feel settled there?
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Yes, the time schedules.
One thing at CTA the scheduleis not your basic schedule, like
your nine to five.
Like you're nine to five, youmay and you may start off on the
night shift.
Just for example, when I firststarted I started at nine
o'clock at night, got off atfive in the morning.
(41:48):
Never done that shift before.
So it's changed my lifestyle alittle bit, my eating habit, and
so when I build up time now Igot a set schedule 7 to 3, 30
weekends, weekends off, love it.
If I want to do some overtime,that's on me.
So, like I said, cta is 24hours, so you have some time,
(42:09):
some schedules.
That's totally different, thatyou never heard before.
Speaker 2 (42:13):
But people do it all the time.
Now talk about time.
I have to put you on the spotagain Now, being that you've
been working for CTA so long andobviously there's going to be a
point where you're going toretire.
I'm kind of curious do you knowwhat you're going to be doing?
(42:34):
Are you going to be active orjust going to be sitting in
front of the TV eating your milknuts?
You know?
Speaker 3 (42:40):
that's a good question.
I get asked that all the time,especially when a person gets
ready to retire what are yougoing to do?
Are you going to get anotherjob?
Are you going to be aconsultant?
Are you going to work part-time?
Are you going to go to anothercity and work for another
transit, or are you going toreally do what you say retire
and relax and just travel theworld?
(43:01):
I'm still at the table withthat.
I really probably want to dosomething that I always wanted
to do, and I believe peoplealways have their dreams that
they always wanted to do.
But they had to put it on holdbecause, uh, what they had to do
with their job.
So I probably won't be in theuh, in the uh, transportation
(43:27):
field, but I'll probably bedoing something that I really
want to enjoy doing, and it'snot even about the money either,
you know.
But I have guys, as soon asthey retire, they go work for
another company, just like this,and it's like why you go over
there?
You could have stayed here andnow you got to start all over
again.
I see that all the time.
(43:48):
Some, some people go for two andthree pensions, some people
deal with just one pension andthey done, you know.
So I got to next year.
I've been really sitting downwith what I'm going to do, but
I'm not going to be in thisfield.
But I can tell people that oncethis is over with, I had a good
ride.
(44:08):
I enjoyed it.
I have nothing bad to say aboutit.
I may have some disagreementbut overall, wearing the good
and the bad, it's been a goodride.
Speaker 1 (44:19):
Nice good ride, nice.
So you had mentioned um before.
I mean pension, and then also Ithought you said something
about union before.
So there is.
Tell me about the union.
How does that work?
Does everybody have to be apart of it?
What's the union situationthere?
Speaker 3 (44:36):
you know you.
You got salary, you got union.
You know you got salary, yougot union.
Unions are good.
Some people don't like unions.
It's like I always like usingthis way.
It's like the law say you haveto have car insurance, right,
it's better to have insurancethan no insurance, because if
something happened, you gotinsurance to back it up.
And union the people are theunion.
(45:00):
You know the leaders of theunion.
You want them to bargain foryou with management, better
wages condition.
You know, how that goes.
Sometimes you may not agreewith what you're going to get,
but that's the fight, that's thebeauty of it Can we come
together and come up withsomething that we can all be in
(45:20):
agreement with and be a littlesatisfied.
But you're not going to makeeverybody happy.
So you hear some some goodstories, you hear some bad
stories.
I've been a member, uh unionmember since I started uh.
For the most part I try to stayout of trouble and I only use
the union when I really have to.
Speaker 2 (45:38):
And then when I go to meetings.
Speaker 3 (45:39):
Of course, you want to hear the updates on what's
going on.
What's going on with uh, uh,the contributions where we
headed.
Uh, for instance, like you guysbrought up about what's going
on in chicago with the budget,uh, the unions are getting
together and uh, designingt-shirts got these signs going
(46:02):
down there lobbying.
So you need people like that.
That's going to fight you know,everybody's not going to be out
there and just fight.
So I appreciate those peoplethat's in office and trying to
fight to make sure none of ourwages and some of the things
that we built up we lose.
So, I believe in those people.
Speaker 2 (46:25):
Wow, you know, the crazy thing is we're almost out
of time and wow, we could keepgoing with this.
This has been a greatconversation, awesome.
I really appreciate you comingon to the show, charles.
Thank you both for having me.
Speaker 3 (46:39):
Keep that smile.
You got a great smile.
We can use it.
Speaker 1 (46:41):
Thank you, thank you both, for having me Keep that
smile.
Speaker 2 (46:45):
You got a great smile .
We can use it.
Thank you, yeah, again, keep usinformed.
You decide to retire?
Definitely you're a friend ofthe show, so come on back.
Speaker 1 (46:58):
Yeah, we can have a third co-host.
Oh wow, okay, keep that in mindwhen you retire.
Speaker 3 (47:07):
Okay, that sounds good.
Speaker 2 (47:11):
Well, everyone, thank you again.
We're going to take a quickbreak and we'll be right back.
Welcome back everyone.
We had a great, great show.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
Oh yes, Thank you so much to Charles Adams.
He's just a fun, fun guy.
I love to hear how excited hewas about his 20 plus years at
CTA and how he still seemed toreally love it.
So it was informational and fun.
If you are interested inchecking out our other
(47:45):
interviews, please head to ourTV networkcom or you can
communicate with us on Instagramor on Facebook at Elrod TV
network.
Speaker 2 (47:58):
And again I do want to thank everyone for watching
us and supporting us as well.
Just a little cheater noteshere.
In fact, kristen doesn't evenknow this, but I'm working with
Some other filmmakers and I'mactually going to be putting a
movie on the channel.
Speaker 1 (48:13):
And.
Speaker 2 (48:14):
I have another podcast that's coming on board.
In fact, this gentleman, realgood friend that I know, he's
actually out of Africa, so I'mgoing to be uploading that and
then also working with othercreators to put their products
on ElrodTVNetworkcom.
So there's a lot, a lot ofgreat things to come very
shortly.
Speaker 1 (48:36):
Bring them on, lawrence, bring them on.
Speaker 2 (48:40):
And always, always, always have those thirsty
conversations.
Again, I'm Lawrence Elrod.
Speaker 1 (48:47):
And I am Kristen Willinga.
Speaker 2 (48:49):
Have a great day, everyone.
Bye-bye, bye you.
Hello everyone, welcome to this week's episode
of Thirsty Conversations.
I'm Lawrence Elrod.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
And I am Kristen Willinga.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
And today is actually a very special day, and the
reason why I say that is I havea good friend of mine that we're
going to be interviewing.
He's worked in the publictransportation industry for a
number of years In fact, we'rechildhood friends, been knowing
each other almost 50 years andit's definitely a pleasure to
have him on here Everyone.
(00:48):
Please welcome Charles Adams tothe show.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Charles whoo.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Thanks for having me, guys.
Thanks for having me.
How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
this morning, charles , I'm doing good.
What about yourself?
You know what am?
I'm blessed.
I could complain, but no onecares, right?
Well, uh, I know you've beenworking for cta particular for a
number of years.
Um, can you kind of telleveryone you know a little bit
(01:20):
about yourself?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
a little bit about yourself.
Like you said, I've been withthe Chicago Transit Authority
since 1999.
Good career, seen a lot ofthings.
Like you said in the beginning,we're childhood friends, grew
up same neighborhood, went tothe same grammar school, high
school.
We went our different ways andstarted our lives, started our
careers and it's good to be herenow to interact with you and
(01:55):
your co-hosts and just to talkabout some things I could share
from my experience and knowledgeof the Chicago Transit
Authority.
So I'm a simple guy, easy guy,family guy, you know, just
living life, loving life to thefullest.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
So what do you do at CTA, like do you drive something
?
Are you an accountant?
What is your role?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
You, know that's a good question.
You know, when people think ofCTA, the first thing they think
of is someone driving a bus orsomeone driving a train.
There's a lot of people behindso the trains could stay on.
(03:03):
We we keep the tracks in goodcondition so people could be
safe getting to theirdestination from A to B.
So I've been doing this since99.
I started off in a gang so Iwas doing more demolition work,
tan up, putting up some new soit could last a period of time.
Now I became an inspector.
It's just walking and a lot ofmath, a lot of measurement, a
(03:28):
lot of writing.
I've been in several differentdepartments pertaining to the
track department, so I love itand enjoy it and, um, I'm very
concerned about the safety andthe conditions of the track so
people can get to theirdestinations the safety and the
conditions of the track sopeople could get to their
(03:49):
destinations.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
You know, charles, I'm actually pretty interested.
What got you into this careerin the first place?
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Oh, that's a good question.
You know, for years we alwaysrode the AL and I was curious,
just to.
You know, as a kid you look outthe window and you take a view
Kids always been fascinatedabout trains, the speed, the
power, what it looks like, andever since I was a kid I always
(04:15):
got like a racing car set or atrain set.
You know, I used to put thetrain set around the Christmas
trees and I was alwaysfascinated about the driver, the
conductor, the outfit, the hat.
I never thought I'd see myselfat ETA.
Honestly, you know I alwayswanted to be an athlete or
something, but the job waspresented to me and I fell in
(04:39):
love with the job.
I really fell in love with thejob.
Take the job very serious.
I love trains.
People ask me all the time howcan I get a conduct that head?
How can I get a train set?
Uh, do they still have tokens?
Uh, they want to know thehistory of the train.
How fast does it go?
And not only just the chicagotransit authority.
(05:06):
I get to ride all the transitthat travels through chicago and
throughout chicago, each one ofthem.
Like, we have a suburban trainwhich is called the metro.
It goes much faster.
So I know that.
Uh, some history of the trains,and I'm fascinated about trains
.
I love trains, you know, andit's a good way to travel.
If you're going out of town, uh, some people prefer the
airplane, but, believe it or not, driving a train, the view is
beautiful.
You know, you're going out oftown some people prefer the
airplane, but, believe it or not, driving a train, the view is
(05:27):
beautiful.
You know, you're going to go onthrough mountains, going over
water, the scenery, and sothat's the beauty of a train,
and you get to conversate withpeople, have some good
conversations.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
So when it came to getting into this field, did you
first have to go to school forany sort of engineering or
technical school, or were youtrained on the job?
Speaker 3 (05:51):
You know CTA, you got a mixture.
You got people with degrees, nodegrees.
We do have in-house schooling,depend on what position you're
going for.
And basically, CTA look for thebasics If you can see the
potential in a person you'regoing for.
And basically, CTA look for thebasics.
If you can see the potential ina person and you see the basic
and you see where a person couldgrow, we're willing to train
(06:12):
and teach, Depending on whatdepartment you're going to.
So you need that mixture.
You need a mixture of both andit works out well.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
You know, what's interesting, charles, is that
when people think of publictransportation, they generally
think of bus driver, conductormaybe the maintenance people
that you see work in the tribes,people that they actually see
on a day-to-day basis.
I'm quite sure there's a lot ofother careers and a lot of the
(06:43):
things that goes on behind thescenes, as far as career-wise,
that someone could look into youknow your co-host brought out a
point about.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
There are people that handle the budget, there are
people in human resource, thereare people that's out in the
field, there's people that's inthe office.
There's the engineers there,there's people who draw up the
blueprints, there's the laborperson, there's the janitor
person, there's the mechanics.
We even had electricians, thecarpenters, the plumbers,
(07:15):
because our transit system justdon't go on the ground.
We go elevated, we go over theexpressway, we go in the subways
, so we need key people in thosepositions that have that.
We have people that handle thelights, the garbage.
We have people that handlepayroll.
(07:36):
We have people that handle themanpower.
We have represented thespokesperson.
So when we do have accidents orthings like that, we have
people that go speak out.
We have safety people.
So we're a big family.
We got so many departments, somany Java classifications that
(07:57):
you could think of.
So it's one big family, butit's a common goal to get people
to where they need to go Safe,on time, clean service.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
So, since we're talking about behind the scenes
sort of things, what do youthink is just like one major
thing that most riders don'tknow about keeping the trains
running on time daily?
I mean, are there certainthings that you're like man?
Before I worked here, I had noidea that you know that's a good
(08:30):
question.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
If manpower is always talked about you, it's like
having a team.
You need a good amount ofpeople.
Everybody played a part andit's uh.
Dealing with transportation isnot easy because you got to have
the right people in position.
They got to be trained properly, especially when you're dealing
with time, getting peoplesaying we're going to get you
(08:54):
from a to b at this time, and ifyou don't, sometimes I would
feel we fail and we try to finda way to make it up.
So our job is to really managetime well.
Time is so important.
If you get off to a bad start,that means the rest of the day
you know could go bad.
So time is important and westress time safety.
(09:16):
Uh, uh, courtesy, being politeto the customers, it's a lot to
go behind the scenes.
I mean it's not always pretty.
You know people only see thefront of it, but they don't see
the behind the scenes.
It's a lot of work behind thescenes.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
You know, Charles, you actually hit on a great
point and you know when you lookat things behind the scenes and
things of that nature.
What does people need to know,as far as if someone were to
work for CTA or any other publictransportation, that they
should know in order to besuccessful?
Speaker 3 (09:53):
there.
One is to respect time.
Respect time, follow the rules.
Rules are in place to keep youin line.
A lot of people don't likerules.
They don't like to be told whatto do.
They're instructions to helpyou do your job well.
(10:17):
We have what we call SOPs.
They're like rules andregulations.
If you do this, if you do that,the consequences, things of
that nature.
So coming into CTA, people mustrealize it is a good career job
being focused.
You have to be focused becausedealing with a train and a bus,
(10:40):
we're talking about the safetythe safety of people and the
safety of the employees.
So safety is stress and we alsotell people you know you can't
be high, you can't be drunkbecause you operate in the
machine and we have so manypeople in our hand that you want
(11:03):
to stay focused.
You have to stay focused.
You got to take safety serious.
You got to take time seriousand you have to do your job well
and perform and you earn yourcheck.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Okay, so we have talked about the serious stuff.
Do you have a specific day, orlike an event that really made
you proud, or like grateful todo what you do?
Speaker 3 (11:34):
You know, we have a couple events.
We have something that's calleda rodeo.
It's annually and we all comeout.
It's like a big family.
We come out.
You can bring your family,families.
Uh, we have, uh, uh, the cityof chicago.
We have something like thejesse white timely team, so we
have some people that canentertain you.
Uh, gifts, we compete againstone another.
(11:57):
Do you remember your rules?
Or who the fastest is on abobcat?
Or?
Uh, you know all the rules to atrain.
So it's a good family event.
And and then you also have theunions.
They have the annual likepicnics and events.
So we honor each other likethat.
(12:19):
If people care to participate,that's a good thing.
We also give out.
I was talking to Lawrence aboutcertificate.
You get five years.
You get a certificate.
You feel appreciated.
It means a lot.
You get buns.
It's like being in the military.
You can put on your shirt oryou can put on your hat.
Guys love that.
All the little gadgets, thecoolers, the water bottles, so
(12:44):
you feel appreciated.
It means a lot Knowing thatsomebody is watching you,
knowing that you're doing yourjob that's nice.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Yeah, that's very nice.
I mean, I didn't know.
Uh, cta did all that.
That's actually pretty cool.
We got a lot of toys.
Well, I'm quite sure you'vecollected quite a few things
over the years give away a lotof stuff.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
I could give you some stuff.
I can give both of y'all somestuff Bags, book bags, you name
it, Tool sets you know I wasgoing to say where are all your
pins?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
I expected some pins on your hat, or yeah, come on.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
You know now, Monday through Friday, yeah, Weekend me
Got it, Got it.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
I love that.
And actually that leads me intomy next question, charles.
I know that lately, you know,the big trend is really putting
a focus on mental health,especially in men, because, you
know, for a long time, you know,we never really talked about
our feelings.
You know someone asks us howwe're doing, we're like, no, I'm
(13:49):
good, even if it's not true.
What do you do to kind ofdecompress and kind of give time
for yourself?
You know, either physically,mentally, something that would
kind of help you go, ah cool,everything's fine, and just kind
of relax yourself.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
You know from the job .
I tell people, especially theyoung guys, don't bring your job
home and sometimes we tend tobring the job home.
Or you talk to your spouse, you, you talk about the job too
much when you come home.
You got to just leave it rightthere and relax.
I call it woosaw.
So I don't care if you gottalisten to some jazz, you gotta
(14:31):
read a book, go for a walk, workout uh, that's why I love
gardening.
I love gardening, I loveworking out.
And you, you gotta release you.
You can't bring it home.
Some people keep it all bottledin and they trap themselves and
they hurt themselves that way.
So it was meant for us torelease, get rid of it, detox it
(14:52):
and, like I say, don't becomplacent and be focused.
You have to be focused andthat's the key, and I know it's
not always easy, but you have tofind some type of out.
You have to too.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I love that.
So when it comes to, I guess,how you feel about your job, how
does it feel?
Because I mean, I think it'sneat.
How does it feel being a partof something that's so essential
to so many people's daily life?
(15:28):
Does it feel like a lot ofpressure, or do you feel
important?
Speaker 3 (15:33):
You know what I take pride in my job.
You're always going to havesome employees.
They just there, they justthere for a check.
But you got to take your jobserious, you got to care and I'm
always a believer that I liketo see the job go from
generation to generation to getbetter and better, to go forward
(15:55):
.
It can get better and I seechanges and some people don't
like the changes, but change ishere.
So I do take it serious.
I don't take it lightly, Ienjoy it.
Take it seriously.
I don't take it lightly, Ienjoy it.
I like to see people smile,like yourself, happy, and I can
look back and say I played a bigpart in that and I really
(16:16):
believe in that and that's partof building your legacy as well.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Absolutely.
Well, I have to ask thisquestion here, but obviously
people in the chicagoland areakind of know what's going on,
with the potential budget issuesbeing that, um, for whatever
reason, um, the amount of moneyappropriated hasn't shown up in
the budget or they're addressinglater.
(16:45):
We don't know yet.
It's still being looked at.
But kind of tell people fromyour perspective um, if there is
a massive budget shortage, whatdoes that mean?
Well, we.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
We know it can lead to people losing their jobs,
being laid off, and you don'tlike to see nobody getting laid
off.
Uh, one thing I learned aboutcta we always try to find a
solution.
Uh, the last thing you want todo is, you know, to lay off
people because you need, youneed people, you need body.
(17:19):
I always like to say you needall hands on deck.
Uh, hopefully they come up witha solution.
We do have a timetable.
Maybe 40 years out, maybesomething will be solved.
And that's what I always lookfor and I always encourage
people to don't get down.
(17:40):
You have to do what you have todo.
It's been tough, lawrence.
It's really been tough.
A lot of people are panicking,some people are retiring, some
people are retiring so they canmake room for the people.
That's with less than you'renot gonna understand.
(18:02):
It's a waiting game.
Let me put it to you that way.
It's a waiting game.
You just have to wait.
All parties got to get togetherand hopefully come up with the
right solutions so we cancontinue to go forward, because,
uh, public transportation is soimportant in the city of
chicago, so we have to come tosome common ground, some
(18:23):
agreement where we could keep itgoing with all the people.
We need to keep our with allthe people we need to keep
public transportation going.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
So and you talk a little bit about change also and
I'm sure change is coming with,you know the budget issue and
how that's going to get resolved.
Are there any specific thingsthat with those changes that
you're like excited about orthat you could see or hope get
improved with some of thesechanges that might be happening?
Speaker 3 (18:53):
you know, some people don't like a baby.
A baby don't like to be changed.
They're staying that diaper.
Well, but sometimes change is.
Sometimes change is necessaryfor the improvement and the
better throughout my career Ihave saw where change really
works and it helps.
You may not agree witheverything in change, but you
(19:17):
have to adjust to change and alot of people don't like to
adjust.
So when they don't adjust, somepeople leave, go somewhere else
, they retire.
It took me a while to get usedto the change, but I kind of
like it as long as it's headedin the right direction, and
that's what it's about.
Improving it's not always tohow should I say, maybe take
(19:42):
away, but it's always to improve.
Having the company continue togo forward.
That's what it's about, notbackwards but forward.
So I'm not a person that'sagainst change as long as it's
for the right purpose and reason.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
I love that.
Yeah, hey, charles, let me askyou this If someone were to
become an employee for anypublic transportation, whether
it be CTA or any other massproduction line, what type of
person would be successfulworking in public transportation
(20:17):
?
Speaker 3 (20:19):
That's a very good question and I preach on this a
lot Customer service, you haveto have the right attitude,
because anytime you serve inpeople, you have to be patient.
You have to have the rightattitude.
You got to be direct.
You have to be very helpful.
You just can't just be a bodyJust like you guys.
(20:40):
You bring out the energy, thepersonality, the character.
You have to have the rightpeople on the front line because
you're welcoming customers intoyour public transportation and
you want to greet them well.
You want to feel like oh, Iappreciate this, I could ride
(21:00):
this train again, I could ridethis bus again.
But if you have a badpersonality, nobody is not going
to support you.
That's like in any business.
You know, in a restaurant, ifyou get a bad waitress, you
don't want that waitress no more.
So you need the right people inthe position to make the job
successful.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
That's a good point Do you have a story or you know
a most memorable interactionwith a writer?
Speaker 3 (21:28):
I have a lot of them with a rider.
I have a lot of them becauseone thing about me I my position
, I really don't deal with thepublic, but sometimes the public
see us because I have companytrucks or cars or whatever.
But when I talks to some of thecustomer I like helping, I know
that direction.
I don't want nobody lost.
(21:48):
So if they tell me like, say, Iwant to get to the Sears Tower,
I want to get to Wrigley Field,I want to get to Soldier Field,
I'm familiar with the system,where to go and this, and that I
want to be polite, I want tomake sure they get there.
If they don't know how topurchase their ticket, I even
lead them to the machine.
(22:09):
I know about the machine, eventhough it's not my job, but I
don't want to see nobody lostand I can tell when somebody's
lost because they're looking upat the sky for a long time.
So I feel you know, because Iby me, represent cta, I'm a part
of the company and I feel likesometimes, sometimes we may have
(22:31):
to do some jobs outside of ourjob, even though I'm not getting
paid for that, but it's justhelping out, it's being that
team player.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Now you know I have to put you on the spot next year
.
What is your most proud or yourbest moment that you've had
working for CTA?
Speaker 3 (22:56):
You know what, Anytime you could accomplish a
project less than the timeexpected, that's an
accomplishment.
For instance, we have a big joband they give us six months to
do it and we do it in fourmonths.
That's, that's a proud moment.
And then you sit back and youwatch the finished results of it
(23:18):
.
Sometimes I may drive on theexpressway and pull over and
look like man, I played a partin that accomplishment.
So I saw a lot of projects thatwe finished, a lot of jobs that
we got done, where people arehappy.
And to go back and answer yourco-host's question about I never
(23:42):
had a bad moment with apassenger.
I always try to be helpful,even when I see them do wrong.
For instance, there's a youngman.
He's about to light up acigarette.
I pulled him to the side.
I had to talk to him on hislanguage.
I was like you know, we gotpolice upstairs.
Man, I don't want to see noscene.
They'll give you a big fine.
They can tackle you.
(24:03):
This will be all on the news.
He said good, looking out, oldtime.
I said you know I can't stopyou from smoking, but just not
here.
And he said I really appreciatethat because he could have,
could have suffered jail time,got in trouble, and it's just
knowing how to talk to people.
And that's what it's aboutknowing how to talk to people.
(24:23):
If you give them I know thatsometimes you have to be firm
and direct I get it.
But if you could start off andkind of talk to them the right
way, you know, you'll get betterresults.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
You know, I love the fact that you actually did that
because, unfortunately, there'sa lot of people who'd be like,
well, that's not my problem andjust keep going.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Right, right, right.
That's why I say that's just aperson at work, don't care.
They just wait for payday.
That's it.
Yeah, you it.
Yeah, you know you always gonnahave some slackers.
That's that's life.
And then you have some peoplethat go beyond the call of duty.
You got some people that's justgonna follow the rules because
they don't want to get introuble.
Nobody wants to get suspendedor get written up, but anyway
(25:06):
you can help a person and thattakes pressure off you.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
That's how I look at it so, speaking of you know
rules and regulations.
Um, I'm sure you had a lot morewhen Kovac hit um how did that
change things?
And and did it change thingspermanently, or have they kind
of gone back to business asusual?
Speaker 3 (25:28):
from Kov covid that's a very good question.
That was a big challenge for us.
You know, cta never sleeps.
Uh, social distance was reallypreached.
We had to wear our mask, be insafety.
Safety is always first.
Um, you know, of course we hadto get the vaccination.
(25:51):
It was a different feel, it wasreally a different feel.
You know, during that time,ridership did go down.
As workers, we still had to besafe.
(26:11):
You know, instead of two peopledriving like in a van or a
truck, it narrowed down to oneperson.
It was mandatory that we wear amask.
It was mandatory that, uh, wekept our distance.
So it was more safe, it wasmore and, uh, we did what we had
to to keep the locations clean,be aware, be alert, really
(26:36):
protecting one another.
So that was a challenging timebut we made it through.
We made it through.
Some people, you know, somepeople died.
Some workers died.
That was sad.
Some people really got sick,through it all, uh, but we had
to continue to go forward.
We had to continue to goforward.
(26:57):
We still people were stillgetting on the train and buses,
not as much because of what wasgoing on around the world, but
it really that's a life-changingexperience for anybody.
I never saw nothing like thatin my lifetime nothing
experience for anybody.
I never saw nothing like thatin my lifetime nothing.
And I was so blessed I nevergot colby.
I did what I had to do.
(27:18):
Um, we was buying orange juicefor each other, drinking a lot
of tea and sanitizer whatever wehad to do gloves, uh but
everybody was looking at eachother.
Like you know, as soon as youhear somebody sneeze, everybody
freak out.
You know it was a differentexperience.
Yeah, I have, I haveexperienced that in my lifetime,
but we made it through.
So we hear that I could talkabout it.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
We made it through I gotta imagine that had to have
made your job kind of difficult,because obviously there's
certain tasks where you needmultiple people doing yeah it,
you know it.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
It got slower because of manpower.
Um, there's people that didn'twant to take, uh, the vaccine.
They're right, you know.
So we had to do.
We had to do.
Some people had to pick up theslack, somebody else lagged
because, you know, whateverreason, and that's their right.
(28:16):
So you can't force nobody andthat's your right.
But I did what I had to dobecause I look at, I look at
family.
You know you have to do whatyou have to do for family.
I look at that.
So I look at the bigger picture.
Uh, it wasn't new, you know,but for some reason some people
just didn't want it to take it.
(28:38):
You know that's their rightyeah, um.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
So.
So I guess, coming coming backfrom covet, um did Were there
any changes that you made duringCOVID that have stuck?
Speaker 3 (28:53):
You know, I believe everything is coming back to
normal.
We've gotten back there, butyou still have a few people that
are very, you know, cautious.
You know ridership is pickingback up.
It's getting back to normal.
It's really getting back tonormal.
(29:14):
That took a while, you knowthat took a while, and that's a
good thing.
You want everything to get backto normal where people could
enjoy themselves, you know,getting to work, getting to
whatever event they have to goto, even in the workforce.
So we're getting back to normal, normal and that's what you
want yeah, oh, absolutely yeahnow I'm very curious about this.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
now, obviously illinois, um, is a on the state
level where you can smokemarijuana legally.
Kind of clear up themisconception about driving a
commercial vehicle withmarijuana, because some people
have this and you know what I'mtalking about here.
Some people have this crazyidea and the only reason I know
(30:02):
this is because you know I soldcommercial trucks for so many
years.
A lot of people have this ideathat well, you know it's legal
to buy marijuana, so you knowit's not a problem.
You're smoking, smoking it anddriving a bus or train.
And can you kind of clear thatup a little bit?
Speaker 3 (30:16):
My God, Wow, you know , we take random drug tests, we
take random alcohol tests.
You know you cannot be highdriving any vehicle and you're
responsible for lives in yourhands.
Not be high driving any vehicleand you're responsible for
lives in your hands.
So you know that's a no-no.
Now, what you do on your, yourfree time, is your business.
(30:38):
But operating uh, uh, any typeof machinery operation, such as
a bus, a train, even theequipment that I'm around like a
crane, a bulldozer, a bobcat,you want people to be sober and
focused.
You cannot be.
Uh, you know too much of that.
No way know how.
(30:58):
That don't mean you have thefreedom to do what you want.
No, you still have rules inplace, you know.
Do you think you can functionbetter drunk or sober Better
drunk?
Speaker 1 (31:11):
or sober, so okay.
So I have a very strong, strongopinion about this, so I'm
curious about yours.
What role do you feel publictransit plays in connecting
people and neighborhoods andcommunities?
Speaker 3 (31:29):
That's a very good question.
You know, in the city ofChicago you have suburbs that
touch the city of Chicago and wehave other community trains and
buses so we all connect as it'sa family RTA we call it RTA and
you have a suburb bus that getsclose to the city.
(31:51):
Then the CTA pick them up andtake them to their destination.
So we all connect with family.
They're really trying to mergeus all together, to work
together.
But there's been some problemswith that because the suburbs
wanna stick to theirtransportation, the city wanna
stick to their transportation,city want to stick to their
(32:12):
transportation.
So, uh, in the city of chicagothey really trying to merge all
of us together.
So will it work?
Possibly, you know, orextending the lines.
So we're in the process ofextending uh services to the
suburbs services to the suburbs.
So we've been working on that.
Uh like, uh, cta only goes citylimits, but now we're trying to
(32:45):
extend it where it goes, uh, inthe beginning of some suburbs,
or further north or furthersouth.
Uh, it could work.
It could work.
It takes teamwork and all theleaders coming together to make
it happen.
It could happen, maybe notwhile I'm still here.
When I retire.
I could see it five years fromnow.
I could really see it, oh wow.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Do you see a public benefit to that, or what is your
opinion on extending lines?
Speaker 3 (33:08):
I can, especially because you know, especially
when you're dealing with, whenyou have airports, jobs, schools
, some people go so far and somepublic transportation don't go
as far.
So if we could extend it now weservicing everybody the city
and the outer skirts of the city, and that's a plus.
(33:31):
That's a plus Because you knowyou can't always get the cab
driver, so anyway we couldservice people through public
transportation or the metro, orwe got another system called the
PACE, so wherever we servepeople to get people to their
destination.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Now you know, I got two questions as a follow-up to
that is one if CTA goes into thebordering suburbs, would it
still be known as CTA or wouldit transfer over to RTA?
Speaker 3 (34:06):
You know, that's a good question, lawrence.
That's probably on the table.
That's a good question,lawrence.
That's, that's probably on thetable.
That's a very good question.
All the presidents of those um,those transportation, they,
they come together on it.
That's a very good question.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
So I haven't heard nothing about that yet, but
that's a very good question now,the second part of my question
being that both of us arediehard Chicago Bears fans
through and through.
Now I don't know if it's on thetable or they're talking behind
the scenes.
(34:40):
Being that the Bears are goingback and forth, I personally
think it's going to end up inTarleton Heights, unless
something dramatic happens.
But if that happens, do youthink, from what you're seeing,
that there's going to be a pointwhere CTA extends all the way
out to the new stadium inTarleton Heights?
Speaker 3 (34:54):
It's a possibility.
Anything's possible Throughoutthe history, like the blue line,
for instance.
We call it the blue line andthat extended to the airports.
We have two lines that extendto the airport.
It did happen.
I have the dates of that,that's a plus.
(35:15):
So, extending to Soldier FieldI believe they would try to
extend it as far as they couldgo and then maybe a suburb bus
could pick it up from there.
So I can see that, I really cansee that, and you made a good
point on that, um, because totake a cab or uber, that's a
(35:36):
nice distance from the city, youknow.
So I can't see that and Ibelieve it's in the making when
I don't know, but I, I believe,is it's going to happen and it
goes back to the beginning ofour.
What we was talking about change.
A lot of change is here,beginning of our what we was
talking about change.
A lot of change is here and,and some people going to be in
(35:57):
an uproar no, I don't want thecity coming out here and that's
too far.
And, uh, why don't we keep thebears right here?
So it's been going back andforth, back and forth, so I'm
hearing it from different angles, different people.
Uh, who knows what the futureholds.
I really can see it happening,cuz I believe the people of
Chicago.
They wanna see the Bears move,they wanna see a championship,
(36:21):
they wanna see a dome, theywanna see the city of Chicago
host a Super Bowl.
It's at Arlington Heights andthat's what a lot of
professional teams are doing now.
They're taking the teams out ofthe city and taking them to the
suburbs because of the land,and that's one of the biggest
reasons because of the land.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
Good point.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Well, I'm a Lions fan , so I understood like halfway
through.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
Well, we got your coach.
I like that.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
Okay, but I do have a question.
So, and only because my mydad's a truck driver, right, and
I know he's got just his dailylike routine of where he goes
for his morning coffee, where hegets his bagel, do you have a
morning routine Like?
Do you have your favorite likepit stops?
Speaker 3 (37:11):
you do every day that you're like I can't function
without my blueberry muffin,sort of sort of thing I, like
you said that, and I and I dealwith the truck drivers when they
bring in their goods and stuffand I have to unload them and
stuff like that.
I've been cut from the oldschool and I learned from the
old guys.
They it's like they need thatmorning breakfast to get them
(37:33):
going.
They need that coffee, maybethat donut, maybe that short
conversation, maybe that sporttalk, maybe a couple of jokes,
just to get it going.
So that's the morale up.
So that's an excellent point.
So traditionally I continue todo that and every new guy to
come in I take them alongteaching the routine.
(37:54):
Hey, start your day off here.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
This and that and yeah, to ask you a question, yes
, and I love it nice now,charles, when people look at
this interview and there'sprobably people already thinking
man, man, you know, that wouldprobably be a great career.
Love to do that.
What advice would you givesomeone who really seriously
(38:18):
wants to get into publictransportation?
You know, whether it be workingmaintenance, whether it be
driving a truck or maybe even anoffice.
What advice would you give them?
Speaker 3 (38:30):
First, I'm going to put this in place.
We have a lot of trades atChicago Transit Store A lot of
trades.
I tell a lot of young peoplethat CTA is still one of the
best jobs to have in the city ofChicago.
You can have your career here.
(38:51):
You can.
Best jobs to have in the cityof chicago you can have your
career here.
You can.
Uh, sometimes when a person getout of college they may not be
able to go into their field, butat chicago transit door we have
something you can get intobased off, you know, your
educational background.
So cta has something foreverybody.
Uh, I think a lot of peoplelook at when they see a person
(39:14):
at a cta uniform, right awaythey see money signs.
That's first thing.
They look at cta.
A lot of money, you know.
But when you actually apply forthe job in the position and you
see what you're reallyinterested in, make sure that's
what you really want to do.
And I tell people, make surethat's what you really want to
(39:34):
do.
Are you here for a paycheck oryou really want to make a
difference?
It's the money always going tobe there, but you want to make a
difference.
You want to bring yourknowledge, your experience, your
skill set, your talent,whatever it may be, to make a
difference at the job.
So I'm always encouraging youngpeople when they come in,
because I see people come in andI see people go.
(39:54):
They say that's not the job forme.
My mother told me to go here.
Uh, cta is also a family joband I I touched on this before
that um, you have three, four,five generations of family at my
job and that's good.
Sometimes you may not be able tofind something out in the world
(40:17):
in your field.
Come to CTA, you may findsomething there.
You can always go to ourwebsite
wwwchicagotransportaureatecom.
It's a lot of jobs, greatopportunities.
If you're in college, you cando your intern.
It's a lot of opportunities atCTA.
You're in college, you can doyour intern, no-transcript, not
(40:37):
a bad job.
It has changed people's lives.
People have been blessedthrough it.
I've seen a lot of great thingshappen at CTA and a lot of
people prosper from it.
And to see people retire thatput in so many years and they're
gone on, they're relaxing, andjust to see their children,
(40:58):
their children's children, getin, that's a blessing.
So I'm always encouragingpeople if you want to come here,
be serious about it and make ita career.
Don't look at how many yearsyou got to do.
Make it a career.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
Was there anything so just to save anybody grief?
When you first started orwithin the first few years, were
there any big challenges youfeel you had to overcome in
order to feel settled there?
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Yes, the time schedules.
One thing at CTA the scheduleis not your basic schedule, like
your nine to five.
Like you're nine to five, youmay and you may start off on the
night shift.
Just for example, when I firststarted I started at nine
o'clock at night, got off atfive in the morning.
(41:48):
Never done that shift before.
So it's changed my lifestyle alittle bit, my eating habit, and
so when I build up time now Igot a set schedule 7 to 3, 30
weekends, weekends off, love it.
If I want to do some overtime,that's on me.
So, like I said, cta is 24hours, so you have some time,
(42:09):
some schedules.
That's totally different, thatyou never heard before.
Speaker 2 (42:13):
But people do it all the time.
Now talk about time.
I have to put you on the spotagain Now, being that you've
been working for CTA so long andobviously there's going to be a
point where you're going toretire.
I'm kind of curious do you knowwhat you're going to be doing?
(42:34):
Are you going to be active orjust going to be sitting in
front of the TV eating your milknuts?
You know?
Speaker 3 (42:40):
that's a good question.
I get asked that all the time,especially when a person gets
ready to retire what are yougoing to do?
Are you going to get anotherjob?
Are you going to be aconsultant?
Are you going to work part-time?
Are you going to go to anothercity and work for another
transit, or are you going toreally do what you say retire
and relax and just travel theworld?
(43:01):
I'm still at the table withthat.
I really probably want to dosomething that I always wanted
to do, and I believe peoplealways have their dreams that
they always wanted to do.
But they had to put it on holdbecause, uh, what they had to do
with their job.
So I probably won't be in theuh, in the uh, transportation
(43:27):
field, but I'll probably bedoing something that I really
want to enjoy doing, and it'snot even about the money either,
you know.
But I have guys, as soon asthey retire, they go work for
another company, just like this,and it's like why you go over
there?
You could have stayed here andnow you got to start all over
again.
I see that all the time.
(43:48):
Some, some people go for two andthree pensions, some people
deal with just one pension andthey done, you know.
So I got to next year.
I've been really sitting downwith what I'm going to do, but
I'm not going to be in thisfield.
But I can tell people that oncethis is over with, I had a good
ride.
(44:08):
I enjoyed it.
I have nothing bad to say aboutit.
I may have some disagreementbut overall, wearing the good
and the bad, it's been a goodride.
Speaker 1 (44:19):
Nice good ride, nice.
So you had mentioned um before.
I mean pension, and then also Ithought you said something
about union before.
So there is.
Tell me about the union.
How does that work?
Does everybody have to be apart of it?
What's the union situationthere?
Speaker 3 (44:36):
you know you.
You got salary, you got union.
You know you got salary, yougot union.
Unions are good.
Some people don't like unions.
It's like I always like usingthis way.
It's like the law say you haveto have car insurance, right,
it's better to have insurancethan no insurance, because if
something happened, you gotinsurance to back it up.
And union the people are theunion.
(45:00):
You know the leaders of theunion.
You want them to bargain foryou with management, better
wages condition.
You know, how that goes.
Sometimes you may not agreewith what you're going to get,
but that's the fight, that's thebeauty of it Can we come
together and come up withsomething that we can all be in
(45:20):
agreement with and be a littlesatisfied.
But you're not going to makeeverybody happy.
So you hear some some goodstories, you hear some bad
stories.
I've been a member, uh unionmember since I started uh.
For the most part I try to stayout of trouble and I only use
the union when I really have to.
Speaker 2 (45:38):
And then when I go to meetings.
Speaker 3 (45:39):
Of course, you want to hear the updates on what's
going on.
What's going on with uh, uh,the contributions where we
headed.
Uh, for instance, like you guysbrought up about what's going
on in chicago with the budget,uh, the unions are getting
together and uh, designingt-shirts got these signs going
(46:02):
down there lobbying.
So you need people like that.
That's going to fight you know,everybody's not going to be out
there and just fight.
So I appreciate those peoplethat's in office and trying to
fight to make sure none of ourwages and some of the things
that we built up we lose.
So, I believe in those people.
Speaker 2 (46:25):
Wow, you know, the crazy thing is we're almost out
of time and wow, we could keepgoing with this.
This has been a greatconversation, awesome.
I really appreciate you comingon to the show, charles.
Thank you both for having me.
Speaker 3 (46:39):
Keep that smile.
You got a great smile.
We can use it.
Speaker 1 (46:41):
Thank you, thank you both, for having me Keep that
smile.
Speaker 2 (46:45):
You got a great smile .
We can use it.
Thank you, yeah, again, keep usinformed.
You decide to retire?
Definitely you're a friend ofthe show, so come on back.
Speaker 1 (46:58):
Yeah, we can have a third co-host.
Oh wow, okay, keep that in mindwhen you retire.
Speaker 3 (47:07):
Okay, that sounds good.
Speaker 2 (47:11):
Well, everyone, thank you again.
We're going to take a quickbreak and we'll be right back.
Welcome back everyone.
We had a great, great show.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
Oh yes, Thank you so much to Charles Adams.
He's just a fun, fun guy.
I love to hear how excited hewas about his 20 plus years at
CTA and how he still seemed toreally love it.
So it was informational and fun.
If you are interested inchecking out our other
(47:45):
interviews, please head to ourTV networkcom or you can
communicate with us on Instagramor on Facebook at Elrod TV
network.
Speaker 2 (47:58):
And again I do want to thank everyone for watching
us and supporting us as well.
Just a little cheater noteshere.
In fact, kristen doesn't evenknow this, but I'm working with
Some other filmmakers and I'mactually going to be putting a
movie on the channel.
Speaker 1 (48:13):
And.
Speaker 2 (48:14):
I have another podcast that's coming on board.
In fact, this gentleman, realgood friend that I know, he's
actually out of Africa, so I'mgoing to be uploading that and
then also working with othercreators to put their products
on ElrodTVNetworkcom.
So there's a lot, a lot ofgreat things to come very
shortly.
Speaker 1 (48:36):
Bring them on, lawrence, bring them on.
Speaker 2 (48:40):
And always, always, always have those thirsty
conversations.
Again, I'm Lawrence Elrod.
Speaker 1 (48:47):
And I am Kristen Willinga.
Speaker 2 (48:49):
Have a great day, everyone.
Bye-bye, bye you.
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