The Hood

The last day of March was marked by a beautiful day in Chicago with temperatures above 75 degrees. Kids are on spring break so mom decided to take Pie for walk to the grocery store. Before leaving on their little excursion, my 10 year old grabbed a knife from the kitchen and assured my mom by saying “Don’t worry grandma, I know where to keep this so no one will be able to see it.” When I came back from work I couldn’t hear the end of it: “What is wrong with you? Scaring a child like that!!! Sure there are kidnappings, but you can’t live your life like that everyday!!!” On the inside I was quite pleased with Pie taking the extra precautions, but on the outside I cringed about the unpleasantness of the situation that escalated into an amicable argument. In my defense there was abduction in our town only a year or so ago. Also, one of Chicago’s worst ghettos is only a few blocks away with the fallout spilling in everyday. To substantiate my precautionary initiatives, I decided to play Mrs. Kravitz when I came home. Although, I didn’t find any of the usual hood looms wobbling over to Mickey D’s, I did spot my neighbor’s boyfriend washing his car with paper towels and a bottle of Windex. I realize that Windex hardly qualifies as a dangerous weapon, but it does goes to show what type of people live around us. There is serious doubt in my mind that any normal guys who live in the posh North Shore suburbs would ever pull as stunt like that.