MILWAUKEE — Tuesday was a b-e-a-utiful, warm, and sunny day. Temperatures nearly reached 70 degrees. The record high for March 12 is 76 degrees. With such nice weather, it was inevitable that people would be out and about. But it's still a Tuesday. Are these people playing hooky?
So, I laced up my running shoes and hit the parks to see who was cutting out of work and ditching school.
The first place I went was the Oak Leaf Trail near Milwaukee's lakefront. I jogged up next to the first person I saw running on the trail.
“Are you supposed to be at work right now?" I asked.
“Maybe," Nettie Rauch responded.
“Where does your boss think you are right now?”
"It's a lot easier when you work for yourself," Rauch said.
Nettie wasn't alone on the trail. There were tons of people on the trail either walking, biking, jogging, and skating.
“What brought you outside today?" I asked a bicyclist.
“The sun. Yea, I should be at work right now," the bicyclist said.
“Where does your boss think you are?” I asked.
“Probably at my desk," the bicyclist said.
Even unicycle-riding high schoolers were skipping school - or so I thought.
“Are you not supposed to be in school or anything?" I asked.
“We have off from school. The juniors are taking their ACT,” Isabella Swatalski said.
I didn’t just want to talk to runners, though. I drove to three basketball courts before finding some guys playing a pick-up game at Rose Park in Milwaukee.
“Really just want to come hoop with my little brother. Said he was at the park. I just walk down the street to come hoop with him, you know, play some basketball," Deeray Nash said.
Of course, I challenged him to a quick game of 1v1. It was a back-and-forth game. He made some shots. I hit a couple. Then it was all tied up at 6 a piece. I had the ball in my hand. I was driving to the hoop. I got to fancy with it, he stole the ball, and made an easy shot to win.
After a tiring game of pick-up and running, I wanted to cool off. So I drove to Estabrook Parkin Shorewood for its soft opening of the beer garden. It will be open as long as the weather is good.
With all these people at the beer garden, I figured at least one of them was skipping work.
“I’m actually off work today. so luckily he thinks I’m at home," Gary Varga said.
“I don’t have a boss. I’m a stay-at-home cat mom," Nika O'Sullivan.
I interviewed another two people who were also playing by the rules and not playing hooky. The same went for the people I interviewed below the beer garden who were fishing.
“Oh, I’m retired," Florence Truss said.
“Yea, now we’re seniors. ACT day. So it’s our day off," Sawyer Trexell.
This time of year Wisconsin weather temperamental. We get a false spring, then a second winter, another false spring, and then a third winter before summer. That's why when you get the random warm day, you just have to take advantage of them - even if you have to play hooky.
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