We've been cooped up in our condo for going on three months now. We are lucky enough to be in a condo with a lovely view of Lake Michigan. The downside is that the beaches in Chicago are "closed", so we can't actually set foot on them. I use the quotation marks because the city officials keep saying the lakefront is closed, but through the entire lockdown we have watched a steady stream of people and dogs parading in and out of the beach, as well the surrounding park and bike paths (which are also "closed"). All without consequence. In our household we have renamed it from "Osterman Beach" to "Osterman Dog Park". With the arrival of warmer weather, we see probably 200 or more people on the beach every day. They even set up volleyball nets yesterday. The city knows this and they have chosen to do nothing about it.
Part of the frustration is whiny pettiness, the feeling of "why should they get to use the beach while we are up here obeying the law". But there is also the gnawing feeling that there is some sort of privilege at play here.
Every person on the beach is violating at least one law: the lakefront is closed because of Covid-19. But the typical person we see on the beach the last few months is a dog owner. Now, keep in mind that dogs are never allowed on the beaches in Chicago. (We have almost never seen that enforced.) So when the typical dog owners are there today, they are breaking at least three laws. (1) Humans are not allowed on the beach at this time. (2) Dogs are not allowed on the beach. (3) Dogs are required to be on a leash in Chicago, and hardly any of these are leashed. And for the small but not insignificant number of dog owners who don't pick up their dog shit, that's a fourth violation.
Here is the privilege part. These are people--mostly the same people--violating three or four laws, day after day. (We are cooped up here so we have nothing to do except watch them all day long.) It seems to me that there are parts of the city where far less would get you handcuffed in a second (and who knows what else).
