There was a menacing cloud hanging over Chicago as I walked down Michigan Avenue the other day. It slowly descended. At first, I thought the cloud was fog, but the air was not damp. I continued walking. I noticed people were covering their mouths and noses with their shirts or jackets. Some of them were coughing. I chose to breathe deeply. My throat was not itching. My eyes were not burning. I breathed deeply again. I wondered, is the air full of incinerated medical waste? Asbestos or some other poison that will give me cancer? Smoke from a forest fire miles away? Was HAARP or some other weather control device that the conspiracy theorists have long been obsessed with malfunctioning? I laughed out loud.
I then asked myself: Given how bad things are in America right now, what is the worst that can possibly happen to me from this bad air? I quickly realized the answer: a lot. So I covered my mouth and nose like everyone else.
