THANKS 989, OR YES VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA

I am not under the illusion that the Chi is a mean, nasty city. As different as we are from the rest of the Midwest, we have a lot in common with the rest of the Midwest. In a very fundamental way, this translates as being just a little nicer than the New Yorks and Philadelphias of the world. A low threshold to be sure, but nevertheless, one we can exceed.

I was reminded of this this morning when I got to work. Last night I took a cab home with a Christmas present. I forgot the present in the cab. It was an off-brand cab and I could not find the name anywhere. I did realize that the package had my name and work address on it, but I was not very hopeful that I would get it.

Lo and behold, this morning the package was on my chair with a note saying that cabbie 989 found it in his cab and returned it to the address on the label. Unfortunately the only way the City of Chicago will give me contact information associated with the medallion number is by filing a FOIA request. Instead, I filed a compliment through the 311 system and they apparently will pass it on to the driver.

So, let me say, "thanks 989, and happy holidays."