A Gritty, Urban Crime Drama

Dear Blogger,

One of the most difficult things about living in a city, and please stick with me on this I know that I write about this all of the time, is that it is hard to realize that a lot of the things that happen here could never really happen in suburbia. The homeless here don't get rounded up by the local cops for peeing under that bridge, because it was a little to close to the golf course to go unnoticed, really. The cops and the homeless are two completely separate entities in Chicago. There are no cops in Chicago that look like Keith Charles, and there are no homeless guys here that ride on trains and sing songs with Pee-Wee Herman.

But, see, it's difficult. The cops here have a long history of violence, racism, hatred, and complete indifference to the people they are sworn to protect. I've seen people get off a bus and cross the street when the police come around with their sniffing dogs. There are people here that will avoid the police at all costs, and for good reasons, too.

It's heavy to deal with.

There's a reason I'm telling you this:

I was walking back from the 57th Street Bookstore today, and I saw a guy running down the street to catch a bus that was waiting for passengers. He was carrying something under his arm in that kind of awkward way, with one arm over the top to hold against him and his left arm supporting the bottom, while he ran kind of leaned forward.

I have actually seen this man, an elderly man, a number of times, in front of the Original House of Pancakes, which I walk past on my way to and from work. Sometimes he asks me for money, but he hasn't for a while. I've given him change, and I'd really like to help him, but how many times can I give him a quarter? Am I even helping him? Is there anything else I can do?

A lot of people run places in Hyde Park, especially when they're trying to catch their bus. But this guy was apparently being chased. Another man, a police officer came running around a corner after the homeless man.

It's really heavy to deal with, seeing someone you've tried to help in the past. Someone that you've heard about, growing up in Oberlin, the people you're told to help (it's not their fault, they're victims of society, you know).

I turned around to hear this cop yell, "Stop! Someone stop him! That's not his!"

The guy he was chasing was getting closer to the bus at this point. A kid who looked like a high school student, grabbed the thief and kind of half-tripped, half-swung him to the ground. The poor guy had dropped his bag at this time, and all of the contents had fallen out. I was close enough at this point to see that the homeless man had stolen a gigantic block of cheese from someone.

And the cop had caught up to us at this point and says, "Awww, man! That's nacho cheese!"

Happy Veteran's Day,

Steve