May 15 Ruminating In The Rain

I do not care where you live, the traffic is not as bad as Chicago's fucking disaster of a highway system. When you add miserable weather to the traffic, it boggles the mind how slow one can travel in the Chicagoland area. It once took me 7.5 hours to travel 67 miles during a snowstorm that produced 5 inches of snow. Today it was raining on and off like a monsoon. It took me over 2 hours to drive 16 miles on the Kennedy to the Dan Ryan. But this blog is not about the traffic, it's about what went through my mind while stuck in traffic. Earlier in the day I drove across Lawrence Ave from Jefferson Park to Albany Park to get to a job. I took a few pictures along the way. I noticed at least seven different languages on storefront signs along the way. English, Korean, Spanish, Serbian, Polish, Chinese and Arabic though I'm not sure if that is the correct name for that language. I also thought it was strange for Ralph's Marine to be located in the middle of a block nowhere near any water but the business looked busy. So while stuck in traffic I began thinking about all the different businesses on Lawrence Ave. The fact that a Chinese business can be next door to a Mexican business is what makes America great. We always hear that America is the greatest country in the world. It's true we often hear it from other Americans so I spent the afternoon wondering what makes America the greatest country on Earth. My conclusion is that diversity makes this the best country in the world. We are the best and maybe the worst of every other nation rolled into one country. Whether you can admit it or not, we are influenced by the many different cultures that Americans are exposed to on a daily basis. This changes the way we think about the world, the food we eat, the way we see ourselves. Back in 2003 I had to laugh at myself on my first flight to a foreign country. I had to fill out a landing card that asked for my nationality. I always answered this by saying Irish, Italian and German but that would be incorrect. For the first time in my life I answered American. It seemed strange because I had never called myself an American before that moment. When you add Chrissy's bloodline of Polish, Romainian, Lithuanian and German you can see how diverse our two families have gotten. This really is America's greatest strength. Obviously my trip down Lawrence Avenue got me started on this line of thinking but after 2 hours in traffic I still believe our greatest asset as a country is our diversity.