Thursday, November 06, 2008

What? Inconvenience?

Well, it seems that having the new President-Elect around will make for some changes around my hood. Wednesday morning Valois, a favorite diner of Obama's, had free Barack breakfasts. (He likes scrambled egg whites.) That drew all the media and their trucks and equipment, caused long lines of happy, hungry folks and traffic jams on 53rd Street.

Like everyone else, I couldn't find a newspaper anywhere. It was crazy and fun. People were late for work and calling friends to see what they could find. I finally spotted a Tribune truck at Treasure Island on 55th and got 3. Someone said there are Sun-Times at the CVS on 53rd. Of course they were gone and I started to yell there's TRIBS AT 57th STREET BOOKS just to watch folks scurry. But that would've been mean. I did trade a Trib for a Times with a lady on the street.

Later that afternoon and evening in the beautiful unseasonal 70's weather, there was a festival going on down 53rd Street with artists, venders, musicians, and of course the media and all their stuff. Also, so many added visitors in all the shops, and stores, and a much enhanced presence of both the University of Chicago and Chicago police. The street a couple blocks away, where the Obama's live has been blocked all the way around by stone barriers. Now the Secret Service and police totally have blocked off the street from both ends. Good Grief you have to figure out how to get around all that. We are, when The family is home, now in a no fly zone. So air traffic is effected. Even on Halloween the neighborhood swarmed with police as the girls trick-or-treated. So this is how it'll be when the first family is home. All this police protection, increased revenue for our local businesses and everyone walking around all happy. What an inconvenience!
It's wonderful! Somebody pinch me!

3 comments:

Dustin said...

It sounds like it is a fun transition for your neighborhood, despite the inconvenience. BTW, did you get to eat at Valois as you mentioned in your last post?

Chris said...

It sounds like it's keeping the excitement alive! It feels like a regular beautiful day here on the Calif. coast, but my soul feels different!! So I guess I'll have to settle for that!

Jackie said...

Dustin, I actually didn't eat at Valois. I know the ABC reporter who was doing the interviews so i went over to see her while on my newspaper quest. ABC had left when I got there so I didn't go in.

Chris,
"Soul feels different", that's a really good way to put it.