I Have Found The Underground

I had heard about this allusive Chicago "Pedway," but today was the first day I took my route to the L below ground level. The ped-people have done a pretty good job of hiding this pedway from plenty of pedestrians I thought.

Upon first entering the pedway, I was in awe. There's a Starbucks down here? You know you're somewhere when there's a Starbucks. Then I felt frustration. Why couldn't I have known about this on previous cold days? Then anger: why was this pedway kept from me?

As I went to get my coffee at Starbucks, I told the barista: "I never knew this existed."
"Me neither," he said. Pause. "Oh, yeah, I work here...But I didn't know two weeks ago. What was I doing?" "Getting me coffee." "Oh, right."

The Ped makes people act in funny ways.

My initial theory was that this Pedway was meant to be kept from the public. Only a certain elite group of pedestrians would get to relish in this underworld.

Try asking someone for directions to the Pedway and they'll say, "Oh, just turn left, another left, right through some glass doors and another right and it's right there."

But it's not widely used because, for most, it takes longer to get places. But for me, it makes sense. I learned that I can walk directly from work to the L without ever walking outside.