Scooter Smackdown

I flew back to Chicago yesterday, and when I got to my neighborhood I was so happy to be back I almost kissed the sidewalk. I would have too, if there wasn't so much trash on it.

Ever since my scary subway encounter, I've been thinking about alternative ways to get around the city. Walking is out, because it's usually too far to get from one place to the other. And taxis are out too, because they're expensive. I took a cab from the airport back to my building, and the driver broke one of the wheels on my suitcase because he was so careless with it. I didn't notice it, of course, until I tried to drag the suitcase inside. That must have been why he drove away so quickly. I would've called the company to complain, but this was the one time I didn't pay attention to which one I was taking and what the cab number was. Fan-tastic.

I could buy a car, but seeing as how I'm a broke grad student/website employee/teaching assistant/adjunct instructor (you'd think that working multiple jobs would mean I'd have more money, right? Ha! You'd THINK), that's out of the question too.

I also thought about getting a bicycle. Then I'd save a lot of money on train/bus fare AND I'd get a lot of exercise. And then maybe I'd go down to a size 2 and I could laugh in the faces of all the guys who ever ignored me. And maybe run over their shoes with my bicycle tires.

But seeing as how it's only warm in Chicago for less than three months a year, it'd be hard navigating a bicycle around the city when it's cold/rainy/icy/snowy out. I've seen bicyclists out during the winter, and I don't understand how they're able to ride around without screaming, because that's what I would be doing. I'd probably be all, "Mayday! Mayday! Neurotic girl on bike coming through! AHHHHH!" And then I'd crash into a lamppost or something.

In Chicago, you're supposed to ride your bike in the street, but many cyclists disregard that rule. And I'm not talking about little kids, because come on, who's going to make a five year old ride their bike in the street? I'm talking about adults who take up all the room on the sidewalk while the people on foot have to move to the street to get out of their way.

Once I was walking to the grocery store when I saw a woman riding a scooter on the sidewalk.

She managed to stay out of the way of most people, but apparently one woman had a problem with her and stood in her way, blocking her from riding any further. She said something like, "I can't believe you have the nerve to ride that on the sidewalk." I pictured that woman sitting down to write a letter to Dear Amy or Dear Abby later to complain about people who ride their scooters on sidewalks (side note: do you notice how a high percentage of the people who write to those advice columns often aren't asking for advice; they're just complaining about people who piss them off? I'd probably be like them if I didn't have this blog. The annoying ones are the ones who write the indignant-and sometimes vicious-letters to the advice columnists to tell them that they gave the wrong advice). The two women then started arguing, and I wondered if there was going to be some kind of scooter smackdown right then and there. I didn't stay to find out. Like pretty much everyone else, I crossed the street and walked away quickly.

There is a lot of anger in the city. If I had a dollar for every time I witnessed a public argument, I'd be able to afford one of those fancy bikes. Or maybe even a motorcycle. In my old building, I saw two women in the laundry room get into a screaming match over some laundry that one of the women had left in the washing machine. I was at a coffeehouse once and a customer got thrown out because he kept cursing out the baristas. He then proceeded to walk back and forth in front of the window, screaming obscenities until the police showed up. And it's common to see people screaming at each other (or at nothing in particular) in the street.

I am ashamed to admit that I've yelled in public too, usually at drivers who come this close to running me over and then curse me out for being in their way. Before I moved to Chicago, I would never have imagined yelling at strangers like that; there was definitely anger in my hometown, but people usually talked about each other behind their backs rather than to their faces. But on the other hand, I did get into more than one standoff with kids who picked on me when I was in school.

Sometimes, I worry that a lot of the rage I've witnessed has transferred onto me. And that maybe that's why minor annoyances often get the best of me. On my flight back to Chicago, for example, it bothered me that this girl sitting across from me took up nearly an entire overhead compartment with her instrument case, and wouldn't let anyone else put their bags up there. The flight attendant took her side, for some reason, and made me put my bag on the floor even though we're not supposed to; as a result I had no leg room. I tried to lean my seat back, but the guy sitting beside me kept shoving it forward and refused to let me push my seat back. And I had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming.

But then something happened on the plane yesterday that made some of that anger start to dissipate. Another woman who had to put her bag in a compartment several seats back couldn't reach it, so several people passed it along to her rather than just cut in front of her and make her wait. And somehow, that small act of kindness made me feel better.

Even though there is a lot of anger in the city, I still see small acts of kindness every now and then. Whenever there is an elderly person, a pregnant woman, or a person carrying a bunch of packages on the train or the bus, I'll always see at least one or two people offer their seats to that person. I've seen people give food to the homeless, and if I happen to drop my gloves or my hat during the winter, there's always at least one person who will pick it up and give it back to me.

Seeing stuff like that inspires me to do the same thing. One of my teachers in Catholic school said we should try to do at least one good deed a day, and I think she's right. And at the very least, it makes me just a little less angry.

What about you? How do you de-stress yourself from the daily annoyances?