Last night I went from work to a friend's house for dinner. The drive usually takes 20 minutes. It took 1½ hours!
Those of you in Chicago will understand this. We only have two seasons here - winter and road construction. With global warming, winter is becoming shorter and shorter and the road construction is happening in November - March making road construction season even longer.
Of course, it also is a double election year - governor in November and mayor in March! So a lot of thing are getting done all of a sudden. It's the legal way to buy votes. Chicago politics is a sport unlike any other. We may have the Bears but they are a fleeting phenomenon.
When I was young I really had this thing about Mayor Richard J. Daley and his brand of politics. Of course, not only was I young, I was naive and idealistic. I wanted everyone to have an equal chance. That's not how the world works.
A friend that I was working with in the 70's, whose father was a judge and good family friends of da mayor straightened everything out for me.
Da mayor ran the city as family. You took care of family first and foremost. If you weren't part of the family, you might have been considered just a neighbor. Da mayor's son, Richard M. Daley, has been da mayor for quite some time now, and the family has become much broader in scope increasing the number of mixed marriages, ethnic affiliatiions, racial affiliations, sexual affiliations, etc., etc., etc. You don't just have to be Irish any more.
In many respects, this is really a positive thing. The one really negative thing is the politics part. Anyone who doesn't feel like part of the family does everything in his/her power to cause strife.
Consequently, we have all these allegations of improper use of funding, illegal hiring practices, kickbacks.... All of the usual politic fodder used by the outsiders, who for the most part are Republican lawyers. Patrick Fitzgerald, U.S. attorney of Plamegate fame, is a prime example.
He's the U.S. District Attorney for Chicago. Everyone sees him as an upstanding, honest and forthright person. In Chicago he's an interloper. He's not even from Chicago. He's just a pretty boy who keeps indicting innocent politicians on corruption allegations. So what?
It's a sport, as I mentioned above. Chicagoans take it all in stride. While the rest of the country reads about the scandals in Chicago, we basically ignore it because it's just another 4th down and 10. It's the way life is around here.
Do I approve of it? I don't really know. After awhile, you just get used to things. People say it's complanency. It's just...
taking care of family and waiting for the 3rd quarter to end.
Besides, the city glimmers. It's one of the most beautiful urban areas not only in the country but in the world.
but, in the meantime, I'll continue my search for a street, motorway, road in Chicagoland that is not under construction. I don't think I'll find it, but at least I'll enjoy the scenery.
and... I have a CD player in the car to listen to music while I'm moving at 3-4 mph.
anyone have some recommendations for some great traffic jam music?
just asking...
1 comment:
Chicago is a great city. I love to visit and always stayed at The Hotel Allegro as it was close to the Merchandise Mart where I had to attend trade shows.
For traffic situations, I like to pretend the radio controls on my steering wheel are phaser and torpedo controls and I shoot those that deserve it or are in my way.
Post a Comment