Chicago’s Winter Initiation Ritual
I’m beginning to think that Chicagoans consider their winters as a litmus test on the newbies moving to their city from more southern and sunny locales.
Take my wife and me for example. We both grew up in icy, snowy, Midwestern cities – garnering that flinty toughness so essential to Chicago winters that the President made it his first policy in office. But we moved down to Texas and spent the last seven winters without even really turning the heat on. Sure, it got chilly – we even saw the snow while we were down there. But let’s not fool ourselves by calling it winter. My high school winter coat is as new as the day I graduated.
But now we’re back in the north, and Chicago has never been colder.  We’ve already had twenty-five inches more snow that all of last winter, and its been on the ground for longer. There were actually a few days there that it was warmer at the North Pole!
But strangely, its not bothered us too much. We’ve been out walking, working, and playing all the same. We’ve got the gear to keep us warm, and a toasty apartment to come home to. All of this is a gift from our Father.
I’ve noticed that as we move into later February, people are treating me a bit different. Before it was, “Oh, just wait till you hit winter, then we’ll talk.” Now its “Okay, so you’ve seen the worst of it, welcome to Chicago.” Its almost as if winter is some sort of initiation ritual we had to go through in order to become “one of them.” Its a culture-wide phenomenon; something missionaries try to keep a close eye on. When you cross these cultural bridges, you know you’re gaining trust and your capacity to speak authoritatively on important matters is gaining steam.
What are the initiation rituals in your neck of the woods?
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