Life in the city

Sometimes, living in this city exposes one to such bizarre things. This afternoon, as I was standing in my kitchen looking out the window I saw a man commit a crime.

This isn't the first time I've witnessed crimes. I've seen drug deals: one where the buyer stopped his car for a moment in the street, and the seller pedaled up on a bike; the other where money and drugs were exchanged through an open el door at rush hour. (Yep, rush hour on the Belmont Red Line platform can be soooo interesting!) I've seen drunk and disorderly arrests (also on an el platform.) I've seen drunk drivers sideswipe parked cars, and a few auto collisions, too (including one where the drivers staggered out of the cars dripping blood, and then ran like hell away from the scene.)

Now, I don't know for sure if it's a crime to defecate in the public way, but I'm going to assume it is. Yes, that's right. I saw a man shit in public.

He walked furtively along the alley with a handful of leaves, looked around a few times to see if there was anyone near, then pulled down his pants and set to business. It was an alley, but it was a very open and public alley bordered by a condominium parking lot on one side (all with balconys overlooking said lot and alley), and my house on the other side. I had a clear view of this guy and his activities and I did not enjoy it one bit.

Mark was around today and happened to be standing near the back door when this happened. I skwawked out something like, "Mark, there's a guy shitting in the alley! Go stop him!" Mark paused for only a second, then charged out of the house. The guy was sufficiently interrupted and took off quickly yelling, "I'm sorry, I couldn't hold it!"

This definitely tops that one evening where a couple guys stopped their car to dump their empties and piss on my fence. Right under my dining room window. I was alerted when the dogs started going crazy barking and flinging themselves against the window.

Yep. Crazy city life.

I biked to work again yesterday. It was a chilly morning (about 44 degrees F), but I warmed up as I rode. I'm going to try to bike in again tomorrow. So far the weather has been really nice for biking and I want to take advantage of it while I can. I do enjoy the experience of riding, but I wish it didn't involve so much poor air. When there's a lot of traffic I really feel like I'm sucking on the tailpipes.