The Chicago Melting Pot

I'm sitting in a McDonalds Play Place, and in the handful of families around me I hear some French, some Russian, some Spanish and a little English. The guy delivering medical equipment this afternoon had a heavy Eastern European accent. I stopped in at a delicious-smelling neighborhood deli this afternoon -- just up the street from the all-Greek households we're visiting -- and bought a link of Polish sausage from a Polish Grandmother. (Having two boys in the stroller seems to invite conversation.) And it's not like the new-English speakers are just emptying wastebaskets and driving taxis here -- they're medical professionals, business owners, and the Moms and Dads next to me in the restaurant.

It's a definite benefit of travel -- a reminder of the richness of the fabric making up this amazing country of ours...