Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Northside vs. Southside

I was recently given this piece of advice about a Southwest suburban area in Chicago:

Outsiders pronounce it “Pay-los”. Everyone from this area pronounces it “Pay-less”.

To anyone unaware, there is a dividing line between the Northside and the Southside of Chicago. The teams we root for are different. Stereotypical team identity is Northside the Cubs and the Southside the White Sox. There are two different airports. Most Northsiders I know prefer to fly out of O’Hare while the Southsiders prefer Midway. Even the streets are different. Northsiders have named streets (Devon, Damen, Milwaukee) Southsiders have numbered streets (127th, 151st, 183rd). If you need more evidence of the divide there is a street that changes its name from Cumberland to First Avenue at the dividing line of North Avenue. Say “First Avenue” to a northsider and you may get a confused look.

I was raised in a Northwest side suburb of Chicago. David was raised on the Southwest side of Chicago. Having been in the same area all my life, with friends and family who lived within 5 miles of me I took a lot forgranted when speaking about my day. I could say “I was right by Superdawg” and everyone would know I was at the corner of Devon and Milwaukee. Around David’s family, the Northside landmarks are unknown. They may have heard of Superdawg, or the streets, Milwaukee and Devon, but they cannot immediately place the small hotdoog stand with the towering boy and girl hotdog statute on the roof on the narrow corner created by the angled Milwaukee bisecting Devon.

Luckily,  David helps to translate for me. When I tell his family I live North of Touhy Avenue, he says “That’s like 200th north” since they do not know readily where Touhy Avenue is. And I’ve learned to adapt my speaking too. I refer to that street with two names as “Cumberland” to my family and “First Avenue” to David’s family. Slowly, I am adjusting to the different landmarks and moving away from an expectation of familiarity; however, I do miss the days where I didn’t have to explain myself as much.

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