What’s Wrong With Chicago?

A couple of weeks ago, we were on Michigan Avenue.  We went into a store to buy a baptismal present for our granddaughter, and we found a wonderful little necklace.  The clerk boxed it up and put it in a bag.  But then she put the store’s bag in another bag, a plain white bag.  The store has a trademark color for its boxes and bags.  If you see that color, you know where it’s from.  But the clerk understood, and we understood when she did it, that you don’t walk on Michigan Avenue with a bag that color. 

The next day, our son was standing on an El platform, a busy one, when somebody came up and just punched him in the face at 9:00 am for no reason at all.  Nobody came to help him, and when our son took the person’s picture, the person punched him again.  The police were able to apprehend the person, which was great.  But whether there will be any consequences for him, who knows.

I’m sorry.  I don’t understand what’s going on in Chicago.  You can’t walk on Michigan Avenue with a shopping bag without worrying about getting mugged.  You can’t stand on an El platform during rush hour without being attacked.  And the Chicago City Council spent a lot of its time last year arguing about what to call Lake Shore Drive.

There’s something wrong with Chicago.  But it doesn’t seem like the people in charge understand that fact – or have any idea what to do about it.
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UPDATE (4/2/22 5:30 pm): A somewhat edited version of this post appeared in the Chicago Tribune's "Voice of the People" today.  You can find it here.  It's the last letter.