When I first brought up the idea of moving to Chicago from the suburbs of Cleveland, my friends thought I had lost my mind. Why move to "Chiraq" is what most people said? Yes, I know that it's a big city and yes, as such, there is definitely more crime. Where I was moving from, a serious law infraction typically involved heinous crimes, such as speeding or shoplifting at the local Target. And, yes, there was most definitely a learning curve associated with living in a big city versus a quiet and safe suburb.
To be honest, I have always felt like a city girl trapped in the suburbs. As a teenager, I dreamt of living in New York City. But you know, life just happened, and the next thing I know, I'm married with kids and a dog and living in the suburbs.
While I have no regrets about raising my kids in the suburbs, I also knew in my heart that once they had flown the coup, I wanted to start somewhere new...and I wanted that to be in a city.
I turned 50 the month of my move.
I was honestly too busy preparing for the move to worry much about the challenges and potential dangers of living in a large city. That said, for weeks before I moved, I had multiple nightmares about being chased by gang members through the city. Ok, so perhaps my subconscious was not quite as carefree about this move as my conscious mind.
This October will be seven years since I moved here now so I thought it would be fun to share some of the more surprising aspects I've learn about living in Chicago; you know, the shit they don't tell you beforehand.
1. Chicago has the shortest yellow lights in the country. Adding to this is the fact that the city also has ironically (or not), the largest red light camera system in the country. Yellow lights here last 3 seconds. So yes, I have gotten my fair share of these red light tickets. I mean, come on! After 40 years of driving, I am fighting decades of muscle memory that automatically reacts when I see a yellow light. I see yellow, I speed up. You probably do too. Suffice to say, that reasoning has got me out of zero tickets. I'm waiting for my invitation to the dedication ceremony of the stop light at Ashland and Lawrence, which I'm sure one day will have a plaque with my name on it. I am at least a partial owner of it at this point.
Shortly after Laura moved here after college, she received a letter from the city's revenue department that I recognized right away and delivered it to her with a rather smug, "Welcome to the big city!" She opened it and frowned. I definitely knew exactly how she felt. They are $100 a pop so it's a painful and costly mistake. She took it out of my hand and walked away. I won't lie; I was a tad amused. That was until she came back and handed it to me. "This was you! Not me." Ok, so that was not at all amusing, but tragically she was right. Fortunately I only drive a couple days of the week so that mitigates the risk a little.
2. You buy your car's official city sticker at the currency exchange place. Yeah, the one with the a 3-inch thick plastic, bullet-proof window between you and the cashier. The place I assume one would go to for bail money perhaps. This one really threw me. To own a car in the city, you not only have to get your state license plate and sticker and required emissions test and all the requisite torture that goes along with that. In Chicago, however, you also have to buy a city sticker. I balked initially, that was until the city's fleet of soul-sucking ticket issuers found me.
To get most of these types of tasks done, you have to go to a government motor vehicles location where you soul will slowly die until you're done, much like anywhere else I've lived. In Chicago, however, these city stickers are bought at a place where you can cash your paycheck early. I honestly felt a little shady just walking in the place. Need some Euros for that next vacation? Don't go there.
3. There are two baseball teams, but you're not allowed to cheer for both. This was a tricky one. I've lived in many other places but never in a city with two professional baseball teams. While there does not appear to be a Mason-Dixon line of loyalties in terms of geographic location, people are very loyal about their team of choice. Yes, it seems that most Northsiders are fans of the Cubs and Southsiders are White Sox fans, but not safe to make that assumption.
The first year I lived here, the Cubs broke their 71-year curse and won the World's Series, sadly beating the Cleveland Indians. Don't get me started on how a rain delay might have changed the outcome of that one. No one appears eager to debate that possible scenario. Needless to say, I ran home that night from the bar I was watching the game at, wearing my Indians shirt, and fearing for my life as every Tom, Dick and Harry came out of their homes and started shooting off fireworks--and guns! Who knew I could run that fast?
4. Ketchup is not for hot dogs. I've never lived anywhere with better food, and my neighborhood in particular is known for its many amazing restaurants. While Chicago is perhaps best known for its Deep Dish pizza, hot dogs are also culinary stars here although not the type we ate as a kids. For some reason though, there is some unwritten rule that you do not put ketchup on them. A proper "dog" has only these toppings: diced onion, tomato, pickled sport peppers, a bit of celery salt and pickle relish. I don't make the rules here, just try and follow as many of them as I can (see red light camera section above).
5. Dib chairs. It snows a fair bit in Chicago. Probably not earth-shattering news, but what is unique is the system that's been put in place to safeguard areas/parking spaces that have been shoveled out. Parking spaces in general are highly coveted so when the white stuff starts flying, it creates a real sense of urgency.
Imagine spending hours digging out a parking spot just to have some schmuck come and park in it. To prevent this type of appalling behavior, the city's residents have created this unspoken rule that if you go to the trouble of clearing out a parking space, and then have to abandon said spot to go somewhere, you can haul out any and all types of furniture and save the spot. It's call the Dib chair system.
The first time I actually saw this, I had no idea why someone's couch was "parked" on the street or why another neighbor seemed to have an entire dining room set in front of his house. I've also witnessed what happens when someone defies this unspoken rule and dares to move the dig chair...or coach...or whatever.
Despite its oddities, Chicago is a great city to live in...especially in the summer!
COVID finally caught me
I hope this blog finds you all well. I finally succumbed to this damn virus over the holidays. I just got home after almost a month of traveling (Colorado, Indianapolis, Panama City, Panama). Following a week in Colorado skiing with my family, I was home for two days before leaving for Indianapolis where my brother and his family live. My sister in law Kristen was having surgery so I volunteered to come help out.
The day I arrived, my brother started feeling bad, coughing, sore throat, etc. Yep, he had Covid, as did all three of his daughters who each dropped like flies, one after the other. So now I was quite literally living a real-world Contagion situation. As contagious as this variant is, I knew there was little chance of me being in that house and not catching it, and sadly I was right.
It wasn't fun, but also very minor. And, I will say that my sister in law Kristen and I were the only ones in the house who had our boosters and you could absolutely tell who had and who had not. Everyone was pretty sick except for us. I had some congestion and was exhausted but was well enough the following week to decide to jump on a plane and go to Panama with Laura, who is camping there and working remotely this month. I will say I was more than a little nervous about whether I would test negative to fly back to the U.S. yesterday but happy to say, I passed!
I hope you are all staying safe, and sane, and everyone's year is off to a promising start.
Until next time,
Barb
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