Chicago vs. DC

The budget reconciliation bill is not an acceptable topic of conversation in Chicago.  In DC, it is a vehicle for Saturday Night Live-caliber comedy riffs.

I think Chicago men are more attractive as a whole.  Wrigleyville has it's share of frat-daddy types, but they're so much less menacing, less sinister than the ones on the east coast.  They don't have that creepy core of entitlement, so they resemble Golden Retrievers next to DC's sharp-toothed wolves.

It's harder to make friends at work in Chicago.  Everyone goes home to their family/friends/whatever, even after grabbing a drink at happy hour.  Coworkers make polite office conversation about weekend bachelor parties, Bears games and trips to the Empty Bottle, but rarely is there a real attempt to bring one's worlds together.  In DC, by virtue of the intensity of the work I suppose, your work friends ARE your friends.  Any pre-existing friends, college roommates, sisters, whathaveyou get co-opted into your office-based tribe.  I miss that.

In the Metro -- you stand Right walk Left or deal with the wrath of the mob.  You are free/encouraged/pretty much obligated to enforce this by growling, cursing or shouting at any violators.  On the L: "c'mon and get on this train, it's freezing out there!  Have a nice day!"

In Chicago, I don't see other people out alone as often.  I like to go out to dinner, to a movie or to a bar by myself from time to time.  I'm almost always the only solo person in the establishment.  It felt less conspicuous to be out in public alone in DC.

Chicago people actually read In Touch and Us Weekly and stuff like that on the bus and in public.  I wouldn't even read Harry Potter on the Metro, keeping it on my nightstand only to be enjoyed in the privacy of my room.  Junk reading felt as embarrassing as porn in Washington.

I felt at home in DC.  Chicago is home.