People have said that for politics, there`s no town like Chicago. And, having experienced my first taste of a mayoral race as a Chicagoan, I would agree.
What I find most exciting is Chicagoans` willingness to speak out, to engage in rigorous political debate. In the past two days, I have been stopped on two separate occasions by strangers wishing to offer me their political views.
Wednesday night I was sitting on a bench at a North Side bus stop when some guy, waiting for the light to change, spotted my Evans button and rolled down his window to offer me some political debate.
”You`re a ——- ——-!” he contended.
Unfortunately, he pulled away before I had a chance to rebut his statement.
I was walking to school in the Loop on Thursday morning when again someone engaged me in debate.
”Hey you!” a fellow shouted from a car. ”Come here. What does your button say?”
”Evans,” I replied.
”You faggot!” he stated.
Unfortunately, he drove off before I had the chance to enlighten him.
I will miss this kind of interchange of ideas when the mayoral race is over, but I will continue to carry with me the new appreciation of democracy Chicago politics has given me.
