What I’ve learned

Living in Chicago, this is What I’ve Learned...

Invest in an electric blanket and turn the furnace down to 55 degrees at night. It will lower your gas bill to a somewhat tolerable level. Either that or cut up your end table and use it for kindeling.
— Jered

If you go to any fast-food restaurant downtown during lunchtime, expect someone to yell at you to order before you even get close enough in line to read the menu or see the bins full of food. And if you’re not ready, odds are your order will be screwed up. Sometimes this scares me so I often bring my lunch. Let me know if you’d like me to make your lunch too.
— Scott Graham

If you ever get stopped by an individual on the street or mall about 1.) how good your hair looks or 2.) where you get your hair done ... PLEASE KNOW that this is a scam! They attempt to take your money for a “deal at a new salon,” and believe it or not, people fall for it. Just give them the look of death, that works.

One of the best feelings is when you pull out that piece of cotton/fuzz in your eye that had been bugging you all day!

All new “resolutioners” who attempt to join the gym only last through the first week of February. Think about it gymgoers: January= very busy, and February through December = empty.

Having four-wheel drive actually matters — it gets you out of the snow. Who would’ve thought? I always thought that was a ripoff feature.

The Washington Redskins are from D.C., not the state of Washington. Oops.

The Chicago Bears used to have cheerleaders called the “Honey Bears.” Now, they have about 10 guys that play the drums during intermission, er, halftime. They have been coined the Chicago Drummers.

Feed your parking meters, people. You will get a ticket.

Cops use their lights just to get through stop signs and lights because they think they are special. It’s annoying!

If you don’t have a CTA card, make sure you have the exact amount of cash for the bus, because they do not give out change.

Krolls is a cool little bar/restaurant in the South Loop that is good to hit after downtown festivals, Bears games, visits to the Shedd or a museum. Now that it has to be smoke-free, it just got better!
— Debbie Podmore

I’ve learned that once you find something you really like on a menu at a bar or restaurant, it can be really difficult to stray from that item the more you go back.

I’ve learned that it makes you look like a fool to make the statement that people in Chicago “drive like a--holes” in the snow when you proceed to slide into another car at an intersection two minutes after making such a statement.

There are few things worse than watching your precious parking spot get snatched up by someone doing a U-turn right in front of you. There are few things better than being the person doing that U-turn.
— Trent Modglin

The neighborhood pubs are really fun to explore. It is all good to go to the main strip of bars, where everyone and their sister is headed, but for those nights where curiosity wins over, take a walk around the corner to the pub that is nestled in the lamp-lit streets of a quiet neighborhood. The characters and unique feel of the place will make Chicago’s constant diversity ever apparent.
— Scott Bratcher

Having lived in Lincoln Park for more than five years, I’ve learned how key it is to live near “stuff.” There are plenty of residential areas in the city that are really nice but don’t offer much in the way of essential “stuff” within walking distance. I’m talking about grocery stores, 24-hour convenience stores, restaurants, etc. Because when the snow starts to fall, like it already has twice this winter, walking is the only mode of transportation you’ll have available.
— Jeff

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