ML - Michigan Avenue

2014 - Issue 2 - Spring

Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!

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ILLUSTRATION BY DANIEL O'LEARY I n the distant future, Ripley's Believe It or Not may record that the day I moved to Chicago—May 1, 1990 —I knew exactly one person. A single visit convinced me that I wanted to live in this enchanted city of superb architecture, stellar museums, brilliant restaurants, and an energetic and gregarious citizenry. I found a cozy studio apartment in Lakeview at 425 West Surf Street. The day I moved in, my sister and I decorated tout de suite with an inherited collection of chintz slipcovered furniture, family por- traits, porcelain vegetables, needlepoint pillows, and books. I had accepted a position as Ralph Lauren consultant at Marshall Field's Water Tower Place and was looking forward to my first day. One challenge remained: how to get to work. The Chicago Transit Authority became my refuge and my strength. In those days before Facebook and full-sleeve tattoos, the fare was 75 cents. I rode the 151 Sheridan bus, known to the cognoscenti as the "Blue Rinse" line in deference to the powdered, diminutive 70-something ladies who would board and journey to volunteer gigs at Northwestern Memorial Hospital or the Chicago Cultural Center. After a glorious ride through the leafy glens of Lincoln Park, past the elegantly sumptuous co-operative build- ings on Lake Shore Drive, I would be deposited on the corner of Michigan Avenue and East Pearson Street across from Field's. Fast-forward to March 2014. The fare: $2.25. What I visualize as my chauffeur-driven, navy blue Range Rover is now the 146 Inner Drive/ Michigan Express, whose passengers are an eclectic mix of sales associ- ates, senior citizens, hotel maids, hairdressers, attorneys, dental technicians, manicurists, and students. Like a behemoth glass and metal salamander, the bus twists and curves through the lanes of a slow-moving, early morning Outer Drive, bringing all to their destinations in toasty con- tentment. For months I would look for the seat next to a middle-aged, conservatively dressed woman I named "Sleeping Rosa." Quietly breath- ing, her ash-blonde hair gently sprayed into a Hillary Clinton – Park Ridge f lip, she would be sound asleep; I could almost see her dreaming of the blossoming buds of spring outside a Door County cabin. Basking in the luxurious solitude of Sleeping Rosa, I'd be entertained by the young women, late for work at Leo Burnett or the Merchandise Mart, using the bus ride as their early-morning toilette. Out would come jars of Maybelline foundation, Cover Girl blush, Bonne Bell eyeliner, and with the skill of Gainsborough painting the countenance of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, in 30 minutes these on-the-f ly artists would have just enough time to make themselves up before sprinting to the time clock looking like chorus girls from the Ziegfeld Follies. At the helm of this CTA ship of state is the bus driver, or "operator" as they are known in Chicago Transit Authority parlance. Resplendent in a uniform of polyester trousers the shade of Staffordshire's Blue Willow and a pastel, short- sleeved shirt, they are identified by an employee number stamped in a piece of metal the size of a Hershey bar, pinned to their right sleeve. They are coachmen to the masses, and, in a word, our protectors. One recent howling winter night, acres of ice had formed beneath the snow-covered Outer Drive while drifts alongside fences resembled pyramids. Each time the operator eased the bus to a stop, it was done with a degree of efficiency and compe- tence even a f light instructor would have admired. Such dominant command needed to be acknowledged, so before stepping off, I thanked the operator for a safe ride home. A smile that would have lit up Soldier Field crossed her face. "You're welcome. Just doing my job!" As I lumbered up to my apartment building, I couldn't help but think: She had such a seignorial presence, now I know what's meant by Chicago Transit Authority. MA Life in the Bus Lane WHEN IT COMES TO PEOPLEWATCHING IN CHICAGO, NOTHING COMPARES TO A COMMUTE ON THE CTA. BY BUNKY CUSHING 144 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM Onward! 144_MA_BOB_GoldCoasting_Spring_14.indd 144 2/11/14 11:22 AM

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