Michigan Ave

I walked to the Cathedral for Mass today, amazed at the numbers of shoppers on Michigan Ave. I wanted to tell them, "Hey, the lake is --> that way." On this corner, I just missed getting a photo of a family leaning over a homeless person to look at the window in Tiffany's. The homeless person is still there, behind the lady in the green shirt; I don't know if he's visible in the picture, though. The Cathedral also had its assortment of people on the margins of things. A man a few pews ahead of me was making large gestures with every word of response to the liturgy. I was kind of nervous about what would happen at the sign of peace, but he simple turned in a solemn manner and bestowed a kind of papal blessing on those around him: a big sign of the Cross. Right before the Alleluia, another poor soul came in not dressed in rags, but wearing a kind of rag or towel as a shawl. He made his way across the foot of the altar, and then turned with a full genuflection. Sadly, even though he settled into a pew, the security guard seems to have escorted him to the far back. (The Cathedral is open all day, and many homeless people use it as a day shelter, so there is a guard on duty all the time, too.)

Then there was Robert. Robert was once featured in a Chicago photo collage in the Tribune. He would sit on the Michican Avenue bridge all day, banging out rhythms on a plastic bucket, and periodically calling out, "Spare change?" He had been drumming like this since he was 13--about 40 years. Well, I guess they are cracking down on unlicensed musicians, because Robert lost his stool (an empty crate) and his drum (the 5-gal bucket) and was standing by Walgreens with a paper cup. He still had his usual baritone "Spare change" chant, though. To me, the guys who make "music" on the streets with buckets or pawnshop saxophones aren't really beggars. They are in the realm of buskers, even though... without the talent. At least they are taking some initiative! And making some sort of contribution, like the gypsies in the Roman subways with their accordians. But now Robert has lost his "drum." And there is one more panhandler on Michigan Ave.

Michigan Ave