Hours: Optional

      Alright ladies and gentlemen.  Sit down and buckle up because there's a rant incoming.  As an occasional customer of the golden arches across from my building a regular viewer of its customers (because, well.. I'm weird), a few things have bothered me about how it operates and it's time to let them out. 

Through the Windshield Episode 2: Rapid Fire, Snow Birds, and Local Life

     As I mentioned in last week's blog, this week we'll be covering more of spring break 2017. In the first blog we talked about everything from Nazis to drunk frat boys.  This week we'll be covering a large variety of topics including the 'snow bird' lifestyle, and a rapid fire section covering my first impressions of each state I traveled to, among other things. 

Through the Windshield Episode 1: Nazis and Frat Boys

          As most of you know, this week is my Spring Break.  For the first and last time in my college career (since I’m a senior) I'm taking a trip over break.  I’m spending half the week flying down to Sebring, FL and spending time with my grandpa at his winter home in an RV park. The second half of the week I’ll be helping him drive this bus of an RV back to Illinois.  So we’re taking this people watching blog mobile, and let me tell you: nothing makes you feel young again like vacationing with retirees.  This week’s blog will focus on my activities, conversations and thoughts over break; a lot has gone on this week so you may be in for a long read.  So let’s start the ride with some humor!

Where Have The Parents Gone?

I wish I could tell you that this rant was spurred on by some child getting left behind as their parents drove off into the sunset, but it's nothing nearly as exciting as that.  The reality is that during my time observing throughout the semester, I've noticed an interesting trend, and now I've decided to rant about it.  That trend being the absence of parents or the lack of parenting all together.  Now, I want to start this off by saying that I'm not a parent, and I am no way telling anyone how to raise their children, this rant is specifically from a 'through the window' perspective and from the perspective of someone who has babysat, spent time with kids, and has been a kid.  But back to the subject at hand, I've noticed a trend that parents seem to be letting their kids wander to the golden arches on their own, or paying no attention to them if they're with them.

The Peoria 10-Speed

     This week we're going to talk about another experience unique to Peoria.  Right up there with the McBreeze, the vomit trees, and factory smells, but this one isn't a smell: it's a sound.  Ben and I were taking full advantage of the waning warm weather with our windows wide open (yay for alliteration).  And then I heard it: a loud, high pitched whine coming from what seemed like a mile away but coming in hot.  This unmistakable sound is what Ben and I refer to as the 'Peoria 10-Speed'.  

A Series of Unfortunate (and confusing) Events

My time through the window was full of the confusing, the inexplicable, and the just plain odd this week.  I wasn't sure how to explain each of these individually or as whole, so I figured I'd give you brief peaks into each event.  So here we go. 

Chapter 1: The Voices out the Window

The Smells of Peoria

Peoria has been experiencing a warm spell over the past week, which obviously nobody is complaining about.  This heatwave was made even more savory given the fact that it had dipped down in temperatures LITERALLY the day before.  I think we went from 20 degrees to 55 degrees the next day....welcome to Illinois right?