Yes, We Hate Chicago

Granted we are rednecks from the northwoods but if you have tons of people standing on the street doing absolutely nothing why in the world can said people not pick up the garbage that they are walking through and standing in? Parts of this city make me embarassed to say I am an American as such trash and filth is something that Bill and I have always associated with the Third World countries we have been in such as the Dominican Republic and Honduras. They say Chicago is a city of neighborhoods and there is pride to be from a certain neighborhood but it sure doesn't look that way to us if you can't even pick up the trash that is lying around!

And we thought beggars on the off ramps in Phoenix were a rarity but I guess it was just our naivety showing. The beggars here don't stay on the side of the road but walk right through traffic and up to your car window with a cup in their hands. We even saw one guy in a wheelchair that was positioned in the middle of two straight lanes of traffic with a sign and a bucket. We then shopped the McDonald's on the corner where he was sitting and he even came inside the restaurant and went from table to table! That is a bit much in my opinion. Granted there are many, many people that need help in this recession but how do you know that they don't get into a better car than you that is parked on the other street and drive home to a better house than you in a better suburb? There have been exposés done on the very practice. At least some of them try to do something for the cash and sell bottles of water for $1. I bet that doesn't fly very well in January here.

So all in all I have no answers for the problems that plague Chicago and this country obviously. But just because you are poor does not give you the excuse to live like slobs. In that atmosphere it is no wonder people never do better in life. I look at some of these neighborhoods and know that if I personally lived there I would not have any dreams, hopes or aspirations. I would feel an all encompassing sense of hopelessness and wouldn't care about anything no doubt. The first step should be to clean the place up! We will not be sad to leave here and go to the Detroit area although that is probably not much better at least we will be in the suburbs and not the city center.