@Randem

Though I’ve moved around a lot, and never really had a “home”, my moves have always sort-of centered around Chicago, so that’s always been the place I call home. Most of my family is from here, and most of them still haven’t left. I’ve always been a fan of the Bears and the Cubs, and when I left here, the Bulls were on top of the world.

Growing up, I spent a lot of time in this area - sometimes living here, sometimes just living nearby and visiting regularly. The south suburbs have always been the place where I feel “at home”. I’m comfortable with cultural diversity, because I’m used to those places south of Chicago where being a white male makes me a minority. Run-down homes and dirty streets don’t bother me — in fact, they help me to relax.

After I left here in 1993, though, I spent almost 13 years away from Chicagoland, visiting only once in 1995 for a funeral. Throughout that time, I’ve spent many afternoons and evenings waxing nostalgic about the people and the culture I miss in Chicago.

I’ve managed to get through my time in places like Tampa, Atlanta, and Greenville (SC), hating the indirect, two-faced, spineless lack of character that people had. I built up Chicago in the nostalgia of my mind as a place where people are direct, brutally honest, and don’t have time for playing games.

Well I’m back now, in the city I love. And so many things really are better here, so I’m not unhappy to be back. But I’m feeling a little let down by the indirectness, spinelessness, and lack of character that I’ve seen in the short time that I’ve been home.

It just goes to support what I’ve thought all along: cultures differ, foods differ, weather differs… but people are people. From New York City to San Francisco, Chicago to Los Angeles, in Atlanta, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Las Vegas, and Pittsburgh, the end result is that people are insecure, spineless, and indirect, and they all play games. There’s no Shangri La, populated only with people I can respect. There’s no Paradise City where everyone has common sense.

Well, fortunately the food is good.

Tags: chicago

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 7th, 2007 at 9:37 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.