So much to see (good, and not so good) (Chicago: how much, neighborhoods)

[Master Jay]

Good morning, yesterday my brother came down from the Madison area, and we drove down to your city, bringing our bicycles... We parked in Lincoln Square, stopped by Wrigley Field, went east to the lakefront trail south to Millenium Park (Bean was closed off), over to Chinatown, through Armour Square to look at some sites related to "Casino", west to Bridgeport for a snack at Gios Deli, west through Pilsen, and then pizza at Ignotz, before taking Western Avenue back to Lincoln Square... A good ride, 25 or 30 miles. And when the sun was out, it actually got warm.

What is concerning is the 2 tent cities we saw outside the police stations by Lincoln Square and the one near Addison and Halsted... It looks very unstable, but to my brother's point: perhaps they feel safer being right in front of a police station!

But my biggest struggle was seeing the immigrant women and children selling gum and candy on the corners... A little girl, maybe 10 years old, was by Cermak and Ashland, walking up to cars. I saw no adults around! As a father, KIDNAP, ran through my mind!! I asked her in Spanish where she was from; Ecuador. I gave her a $20 bill to buy a $3 box of M&Ms... She did not know what 20 minus 3 was. And she kept putting all this money on top of a book bag, and I would tell her to be careful because the wind was going to take the money away... I tried to use my fingers to show her how to do math, and then have her a $5 tip. I wished her blessings, but was SO concerned.

The next was a woman with a TINY baby and 2 kids by Western and Ogden. They also only spoke Spanish and were from Ecuador. I offered them my pizza and bread take-home from Ignotz. They happily accepted. By that time, it was getting dark and colder.

The last I saw was another woman with a very TINY baby at Western and Clybourn, I believe. I went into the 7-11 there, and bought her a milk and a hot sandwich.

I am floored that THIS is a better situation than their homeland?!? I don't know. But it seems VERY unsafe and VERY uncomfortable to be out in the cold and walking up to cars, some with no English skills or math skills on top of it!

It broke my heart, ladies and gentlemen. I still love Chicago. And I enjoyed going through the neighborhoods, like I always do. And I enjoyed having Brother time. And I enjoyed seeing old friends, and meeting new people along the way.... But my God, blessings and safety to the unfortunates I also talked to along the way, and had the "pleasure" to try to help them out.

Have a great Sunday, everyone.

[ChiGuy2.5]

This breaks my heart to hear as well. They are in a for a VERY rude awakening once Winter takes hold.

[Chicago-guy]

Yeah. It's a complicated issue that many people just see as "GHAWR DEPORT THEM, I WORK AND I GET NUTHING FREE GHRAWR, WE HAVE CITZEN HOMELESS HERE ALREADY "

When this is an issue that arose from political actions ....which then invited them over promising a chance of a better life.
-Simplified-

I don't think they expected the U.S. to be unprepared.
You see the US always helping faraway countries. The idea that they would leave families on the street in mass was unheard of.
But here we are. The city, the country was never prepared and now citzens of the city don't want them in their backyard so the city is stuck.

There could have been various shelters by now, but they're being protested. Who's to blame? The citzens for not wanting them? The country for allowing this to happen? The city for promoting open arms welcome? The migrants who crossed and saw more than most people see in their lifetime?

People will pick a side. But what side is right?

In future history books this will be but a sentence in a chapter. "IN the 2020s migrants came to the U.S. causing mass protests throughout various cities"


I will say this. I saw a video of protestors shouting, shining lasers, and High intensity lights at a mom and her child as she was trying to walk back to a shelter.
Reminded me of old black and white videos of a previous social situation in the U.S.
hmmmm

[Master Jay]

ChiGuy2.5, good afternoon.

I honestly did NOT feel good, in particular, leaving that little girl. I felt she was in such an unsafe situation.

And on top of that, seeing the little babies out in the cold (thankfully ONLY an October cold!!) made me really feel for them.

I wish I had an answer. The best I could do, was help them "in the moment."

[Master Jay]

Chicago-guy, good day.

My exact comment to my brother while we were riding bikes was, "just HOW much planning went into this?!?"

My brother thinks the immigrants came her because there was less work opportunities, and a fear of the drug gangs.

But I questioned will there be enough job opportunities for the AMOUNT of people that are coming here?!? So far, I just see people selling gum and candy. (And WHO is supplying them with the candy and gum????). As far as safety goes, that 10-year-old girl walking up t cars struck me as VERY unsafe!!!

At LEAST in their own countries, they SPOKE the language, they were ACCUSTOMED to the climate and did not have to worry about having to stay out in the upcoming winter cold, and had FAMILY/FRIENDS surrounding them.

[Kmanshouse]

This is going to get brutal. It's a serious human crisis.

We have been insulated from most of this our entire lives. Now we get to see what most of the world sees.

It's jarring to me, and hard to understand.

[Master Jay]

Kmanshouse, yes, Sir.

I think there are going to be TOO many people in small pockets of areas.

I just read that 4 of those from other countries were hospitalized for illness (coughing, sinus issues).

I wonder, they may feel safe camping in front of a police station, but are they truly safe being out in the cold/having little kids walking up to strangers to sell candy?

And do other people feel uncomfortable having to walk through a tent city to go INTO a police station?

[Treeman1]

I, hell, all of us, see little southside kids as young as nine or ten trying to sell candy in the dead of winter in River North. Usually they're trailed by some creepy "guardian" gangbanger type, and the whole thing is clearly abusive and illegal and ugly and obvious. We've all seen it.

Sometimes the kids go in packs, partly out of safety, partly to try to intimidate passerbys trying to get through. We've seen this **** over and over again, but the city doesn't care.

At least the Central American kids are with their moms, asking in a polite, passive manner, and their hussle is hopefully going to their security or savings.

[Master Jay]

Treeman1, I DO have a question:

Do you have any idea WHO is providing these recent immigrants the boxes of candy and gum??????

[Treeman1]

I've heard shelter workers donate bars sometimes, or a conduit directly buys candy from WalMart, Costco, dollar stores, and wholesalers for re-sale.

Clearly there's an existing infrastructure in place, but it's hard to track down who these parties are. But they aren't, to my understanding, the same as the "candy crew leader" criminals who recruit local kids by schools. That's where you hear about the fake basketball team or fake non-profits from kids bothering people in trains and streets.