an average day in your neighborhood (or "this would never happen on sesame street")

today brought me another first for my time in chicago...witnessing public urination on a busy downtown street during rush hour.

i had just gotten up to the street from the subway, and as i was walking down the lake street i noticed a bright yellow duffel bag sitting abandoned on the sidewalk. my first reaction was to assume it was a bomb, or something equally horrific; had i been in an airport, it may have been something i would have reported to the appropriate authorities. naturally, my worst-case-scenario mind jumped to grisly headlines of terrorist plots. i was already picturing how distressed my mother would be at the thought of her daughter working in a city where duffel bags exploded when i walked past a doorway tucked in amongst the storefronts.

and it was there that i saw a man's back and heard the unmistakable sound of urine hitting the pavement.

never a dull tuesday, my friends.