An observant writer's take on relationships, health, living in Chicago, unusual experiences, the news, retirement, books, hobbies, volunteering, smart shopping, and anything else that's on my mind
The nearest Walgreens, at Roosevelt Road and State Street, is the first in the chain to move most merchandise behind locked doors. Customers must shop online or at self-serve kiosks at the entrance, except for a couple of aisles labeled “The Essentials.” Store employees retrieve the purchases.
My first experiences with the new system did not go smoothly.
In 1985 I returned to my hometown of Joliet as a feature writer at the Herald-News. An attractive job offer drew me back, but I felt as many do about their hometowns: I didn’t want to remain there. I made good friends among the staff but disliked some non-pc attitudes in the newsroom.
When I left the Herald-News and joined Northwestern University’s publications office in 1990, I expected to find more political correctness (though the term wasn’t in widespread use yet). That I did, along with, at first, intellectual pretentiousness and snobbery. Well, I had been a snob about my hometown, so maybe the tough early years at Northwestern were payback.
Fast forward more than three decades to a reunion of former Herald-News newsroom staff last Saturday afternoon. I can’t remember when I was so comfortable and unselfconscious at a party.
So much everyday conversation concerns the buying or remodeling of homes that it’s hard to resist comparing one’s own.
When a friend remodels, I look around my place wondering what should be changed. Would I do that had I not seen others’ homes? Or never invited another person into mine?