Lights on Michigan Avenue.
More Top Picks Best Curling Irons Under 100
Ice skating in Millennium Park.
Merry, Merry Chicago! at the CSO.
Looks like the “hellhole,” as one gubernatorial candidate described it, has frozen over. And isn’t it glorious?
Is there any place more wonderful than Chicago during the holidays?
Hmmm, right, Chicago during the summer.
I am a suburbanite. But I was born in Chicago, lived there when I was young, worked there for many years, and I share a birthday (although not the same year) with that big, vibrant, chaotic city. I also share a penchant for yakking, which I guess also makes me windy, and for a short time during the ’80s, I had big shoulders thanks to the fashion of the day.
I consider myself a Chicagoan and a suburbanite. I consider my lucky to have lived in both areas. And I will always defend both the city and the suburbs from outside attacks.
Suburbanites know their town wouldn’t be the same without Chicago’s presence. And we hope Chicagoans feel the same about us.
Like all places, Chicago has its problems. So do the surrounding suburbs, including the one I live in. Every place has problems. And, it’s safe to say, the people living there know it. They don’t need an outsider to come in and start ticking off flaws.
We know our troubles. We also know our blessings. What makes living in or near this beautiful city so special is its many amenities and opportunities, not to mention the stunning lakefront skyline.
Politics aside, I would think any candidate would struggle in his Illinois election bid the moment he calls Chicago a “hellhole.”
Chicagoans abide a lot – frigid temperatures; parking hassles; never-ending police, school and corruption woes; crazy traffic, especially on home game days – but slandering the place they call home? Well, that crosses a line.
Just like you don’t diss Grandma’s condo or your sister-in-law’s bungalow or your friend’s two-flat, you don’t criticize someone’s town.
Especially if you want to curry favor with those people. And most especially if those people number into the millions.
It’s basic common sense, like not walking along the lakefront when 7-foot waves are crashing over the shore or not parking on the street when a 10-inch snowfall is forecasted or not buying a winter coat that doesn’t come with a hood.
I know, courtesy has taken a beating these past few years, so let’s review.
First off, insulting somebody’s home is akin to insulting that somebody.
Travelers know this. People who have visited other countries or other cultures know this. Different languages, different foods, different lifestyles are not weird. They’re just different.
Every destination is someone’s home. Every place means just as much to someone as our home means to us, regardless of its problems.
And even if you openly recognize that your crib needs work, maybe even lots of work, it is rude and cruel for an outsider to point that out.
Kind of like this: You don’t complain about your spouse’s family even if your spouse complains about them because they’re still your spouse’s family and anything you say can and will come back to bite you.
Early on in my reporting years, I was on assignment in a very poor part of Chicagoland. I remembering saying how sad and rundown the buildings and landscape seemed.
A source who was with me then said something I have never forgotten: “No matter what you think of this place, this place is someone’s home. It is someone’s whole world. It is someone’s everything. And, even if it’s not, even if they’re trying like heck to get out, you still need to show respect.”
It’s not your standards someone else’s home has to meet; it’s theirs.
We need to remember that. Especially if we want to be welcomed back. Especially if we want to run for an office that oversees that person’s town.
More Top Picks Best Winter Boots For Women
But that’s behind us.
Right now, Chicago and the suburbs are ablaze with holiday lights.
Illumination: Tree Lights at Morton Arboretum in Lisle. NaperLights in downtown Naperville. Holiday Magic at Brookfield Zoo. Second City’s Jingle Bell Ruckus in Glen Ellyn. Motown Christmas in both Chicago and Joliet.
Even though many of the collar communities and outlying towns put on their own holiday flair, suburbanites drive or train in to the big city to take part in the bigger fun.
We sip a hot cocoa at the Christkindlmarket, marvel at the giant tree in Millennium Park and in Macy’s Walnut Room, and we stop for a bite at Italian Village or The Girl and the Goat or Gibson’s. We spread our joy and holiday dollars all over the place.
We are lucky to have so many choices. We are lucky to have so many things to do all of the time. We are lucky to think of this city as ours, even if it’s only by association or commutability or the addition of “land” to its name.
And so, like a true Chicagoan, or any town’s native, we defend our own. Go ahead and diss our city. But know, those are not only fightin’ words, they’re votin’ words.
A simple rule of thumb for all of us: When you’re traveling outside your jurisdiction, go big on courtesy.
Or go home.
Donna Vickroy is an award-winning reporter, editor and columnist who worked for the Daily Southtown for 38 years.