Op Ed: Give Me Your Tired, Your Lost, Your Intoxicated Masses

By: Mitchell Trachtenberg

If America is supposed to be a melting pot, a land of opportunity for those who are lost, then Chicago must pull its weight. Our greatest test is just around the corner.

During Lollapalooza, the city’s population will swell, as thousands of young people migrate from strange foreign lands, like Highland Park and Winnetka.

It is our duty to take care of these youths as if they are our own, for they know little of the big city. Many will be lost, wandering the vast landscape of Grant Park and downtown Chicago. Some will be heavily intoxicated, and others will be tripping so hard they lose all sense of time and space.

It is our mission, as Chicagoans, to let these poor, inebriated young ones into our homes, to provide them with shelter, munchies, and ibuprofen. While they may differ in race, age, or blood alcohol content, they are still human beings, and worthy of our care.