Rich People Obviously Didn’t Learn a Thing from Ebenezer Scrooge’s Story

Here’s a short holiday rant from yours truly.

Image by Afishera from Pixabay

Last week I went to downtown Chicago and marveled at the spectacle of the beginning strums of another holiday in the Windy City.

I’ve lived in this city for all my life, but I can probably count on my hand the number of times I’ve seen a Chicago Christmas in all its glory. Mainstays like the Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza and the decorated windows at Macy’s (formely Marshall Field’s) are a part of this unsaid legacy. These weren’t a part of my history, but a close friend of mine cannot stand a holiday season without these and other traditions being observed.

But this year, as I stood outside the fancy Macy’s Walnut Room with its gleaming Christmas tree centerpiece, I felt a bit uncomfortable seeing all the tables filled with white families — rich families, I’d wager, since the prices of the entrees on the menu can be a bit absurd — only to walk to the food court-like section just down the hall and witness a more diverse range of people.

The jarring juxtaposition had been apparent to me before — almost all the workers I’ve seen at Macy’s on State Street are people of color while the customers are primarily white — but this year it struck me differently. I had been to the…