Chicago...A healthy does of "nice"



Chicago, my kind of town.
Picture from City of Chicago website: http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en.html



Living in a big city, you sometimes lose that softness that you once had.  In fact, everyone around you seems to have lost it as well.  I suppose it's that we feel that we need to "rough" ourselves up a bit to sustain urban living.  I mean, if you think about it...it's sort of like survival of the fittest here and you see examples of it everyday...aggressive driving (check out the 290 expressway during rush hour!), shoving and pushing to enter/exit trains (not one "excuse me" in ear shot), and moving throughout the day with your gaze always forward, never looking back or around to see if you stomped on someone else.  Let me tell you, this kind of life is tiresome.  

When I first moved here I was a simple girl from Indianapolis.  While Indy is a relatively large city, it's no Chicago.  So, it was a bit of shock to move to the heart of such a bustling town.  There were people everywhere and it was LOUD!  Plus, I saw things here that I had never seen before....a supermarket on fire (we are talking 5 alarm stuff here), a pedistrian hit by a car, an Astin Martin (that's a pretty nice car for those that don't know), a man urinating in the alley behind my apartment (in broad daylight), the elevated (EL) train...and the list could go on and on. Anyway, it was scary and amazing all at the same time. 

Now that I am celebrating my 9 year anniversary of living here, I have come to fully respect this city.  This is the place that I started my first real job.  This is the place that I met my wonderfully amazing husband.  This is the place that I went to culinary school.  This is the place that has both embraced me and at times, chewed me up and spit me back out.  I love it here and when the weather is nice, I REALLY love it here.

What inspired this post?  Well, I was running some errands and as I was getting into my car after all of them, I found myself smiling (I suppose, like a total weird-o).  I was smiling because every single person I encountered on my errand crusade was...super nice.  I know, it's great!  My point is, even though we Chicagoans are a little "rough around the edges" sometimes, we are good, midwestern people at heart...and I love that.

Thank you Chicago for being so nice to me today and thank you for both a rewarding and challenging existence!