This post is kind of depressing. It’s Sunday and Chicago Bears game day!! For some, nothing is bigger than that. I got on my train headed downtown. As we enter then train station just beyond my own, piles of folks all in Bears gear, climbed onto the train. I was so surprise to find that most of them were boarding with 6 packs or cases of beer. Most of their hands already had an open one that they had been drinking. IT WAS 9:30 AM!! Soon the train was full and so was the trash can sitting next to my seat with empty beer cans. By 10:30 folks were loud and offensive to each other. Yelling and stumbling between seats while fooling around with their friends. Now, I don’t have an issue with drinking. We enjoy a glass of wine or a cold Corona with Mexican food but this was another reality altogether. The hardest things to watch were the kids on the train. They had their eyes focused on all that was going on around them and I could not help but think, “What kind of example are they setting for these kids entrusted to them?” At one point I watched a dad hand his teenage daughter a beer and when she tried to grab two he called her a little b---h. Several minutes later she told her dad she and her friend has some vodka in a thermos and he then joined them to have a drink.
As I left the train my heart was heavy with the thoughts of those kids. What chance do they have to be strong, loving, moral contributors to our community?
I love the Chicago Bears! Game days should be full of fun, family and tons of laughter. After all sports and the celebration of them is what our great city is known for. The question is can we enjoy them while being at our best selves?
