Sweet Home, Chicago

My next few entries will not have as much residency stuff. I am on an elective rotation. For my elective I have chosen to go to West Africa for a couple of weeks with a medical mission team. The rest of my elective time will be spent doing research. My "research" includes a brief trip to Chicago to study the lakefront in July, daytime TV, and the anatomy of one particular male subject who I like very much.

Coming back to Chicago was interesting. So much has changed. They are building new houses in areas that used to be overrun with crack addicts and prostitutes. And they're asking 400K! The gentrification thing is out of control. I saw white people walking in areas of Woodlawn that still make me nervous.

I was also accosted by people running scams on 71st and Jeffrey. In Dominicks, a man approached and asked if I was paying for my groceries in cash. It turns out he wanted to find out if I had a link card. I didn't talk to him long enough to find out the specifics of his hustle, but I recognized it as such. When I walked out of a Walgreens in the same area, a woman on the street asked me for my receipt, presumably so she could shoplift items from the store.

I just don't remember things being so bad on 71st and Jeffrey. Does something about my appearance or carriage make me an obvious target, as a friend suggested? Or did things get worse during my 6 year absence?