Random Thoughts From Marybeth

City of the Big Shouters

I created two mental lists during our trip: interesting places and interesting people. Until our surprise breakfast with the president the person at the top of my "people" list was a man standing on a corner of Michigan Avenue. He had a sign and a megaphone (which wasn't loud enough to completely overcome the street noise). He claimed to be a former Russian (Soviet?) soldier and was warning us that Putin is trying to bring Communism back to Russia.

In the subcategory of "sidewalk presentations" he ranks well above the anti-Bush protesters (about seven of them) across from the Museum of Science and Industry on clarity and presentation of his message. The protesters message was a bit confusing. They seemed to be in support of science but, judging from the signs, not very strong on facts. They were saved the disgrace of a last place finish in this category by a man who was reciting strings of obscenities.

One of the nicest people that we met was also while we were out walking. We had stepped out of the way of other pedestrians to check our map book when a woman stopped to ask if we were lost. (I'm never lost, I know where I am and where I'm going, it's just the "how" that can sometimes be a problem.) She gave us directions on the quickest way back to our hotel and took the time to chat with us a bit and make some suggestions of places that we might want to visit.