Amen - everytime I left Chicago after October 2020

I realized I was stuck in some kind of 1984 liberal hellhole when it come to governmental policy. When you took off I envied you... but we had just demo'ed our house and I was stuck.

Even NYC was more sane than Chicago. When my dad passed unnecessarily in October of 2020 I flew to CT via LGA. I had to wear the mask in the airport but the second I got out into the city... no masks... anywhere. Meanwhile in Chicago, I could see neighbors wearing masks in their own homes. People in Connecticut came together to remember my dad. We kept our distance and tried to meet up outside but by and large everyone was reasonable.

When I went to Naples and Key West in December of 2020 it was as you described. There's nothing slack jawed about folks who snow bird in Naples, FL. Key West is a great balance between class and crass but again no masks in sight other than on bouncers and staff who I think were required by the state to wear them.

Finally, I know I'm a unique case in that I have business interests in Cicero and had at the time interests in the west side and little village, but NO ONE there obeyed the city. You could drive down cermack and see all of the mexican restaurants teeming with people while the white liberals on the north side locked everything down and wore their virtue signaling masks.

As you said, many people who think the measures were reasonable did not live in one of these deep blue cities and see how excessive this shit got. They certainly weren't rational with young kids living in these places. If I made a movie of our experience and showed it to someone in 2016 they would think it was made up. Hell I know many here just don't believe us when we talk about how awful it was to be in the city proper. It's sad... I used to defend this city on these boards constantly. Now I'm like "if I could invite all of you who were in charge into an octagon I would."