High on Sugar

There are a lot of people who do business in the middle of intersections here. There are the folks who look as if they are homeless. No way to tell if they are or not, but when I'm stopped at a light and I see them coming, I suddenly find the architecture opposite them very interesting. There used to be newspaper vendors who stood in the middle of traffic. I don't know if there still are since I don't drive to work in anymore. And of course there are the charities that target a specific weekend to interfere with traffic. You'll see them at every intersection with their colorful vests, and even if you've given at the last intersection, you feel guilty not giving again. Actually, I don't, but I'm sure some people do. I don't hand out money to anybody while I'm driving. It's like feeding a stray cat, you're only encouraging them.

At the intersection of Peterson Avenue and Western Avenue, there is a man who sells cotton candy. He walks up and down between the cars, with a tower of cotton candy. He has been there every single day that I can remember since we moved to Chicago. What I find very odd is that he never seems to sell that cotton candy. There is never an empty slot where a cotton candy cone once was because he sold it. All the little slots that hold the big billowy pillows of spun sugar are full, always full. Yet he must have a good business there in the middle of the street. He's always there. Why else would he do it? What kind of profit is there in cotton candy, especially cotton candy that isn't being sold? Unless, he isn't in the cotton candy business. Just a thought, but he could be selling something else besides that cotton candy. Hmmm.... maybe I should make a purchase. Maybe those cones that are topped with cotton candy are just giant spliffs.