Rolling through a city day
Wheels squealing ... intercom blaring ... sun giving way to the early
afternoon ... Naperville, Fifth Avenue Metra Station and Washington
Avenue ... 4:58 p.m. ... rush hour ... the day has passed.
"Due to the tragic events that happened in London this morning, we ask
that anyone who witnesses any suspicious activities please report to
Metra officials," said a Metra employee over an intercom as the
Burlington Northern Santa Fe train rolled in at 5:03 p.m.
A man is leaning against a pay phone, with a cigarette pinched between his index finger and thumb. Smoke wafts in the humid air.
Nearby, a much younger man lies on a bench with his arms draped over his head — a cell phone tucked firmly in his fist.
Police — wearing military boots, bulletproof vests, sunglasses and a
gun — survey the scene. The two laugh, calmly waiting for the train to
make its way toward Washington Avenue.
And it was on this day, Thursday, July 7, 2005, that four coordinated
explosions hit London commuter routes in the middle of morning rush
hour, killing dozens of people and wounding hundreds more.
Naperville was taking mild caution.
But it was, of course, only a couple of years ago that a couple of
unsuspecting targets in New York City and Washington, D.C., were hit by
terrorists attacks.
Sure, Naperville is not New York, Washington, D.C., — or Chicago for that matter — but it is a bustling town, no doubt.
The threat is a sign of a town that has been blessed with massive
population growth in the last two decades. A town in which the median
household income ($88,771) is more than double the national average
($41,994), according to 2003 U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
CNN Money Magazine rated the city as one of the best places to live in
the country and the best city in the Midwest with a population of more
than 100,000.
But it isn't a place without tragedy. On April 26, 1946, Naperville was
the site of one of the worst train accidents in Illinois history. Two
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad trains — the Advance Flyer and
the Exposition Flyer — collided on a single track, killing 45 people
and injuring more than 100.
A pause is met with a squeal and a bell. Young- and middle-aged
professionals wait by the door — with iPods strapped to their hips like
a pistol on a cowboy. They spill out the door, some with purpose, some
without hurry.
There are purses, briefcases, handbags, backpacks, grocery bags,
knapsacks and duffel bags. Some squint like a mole as they leer into
the sun — a bold strike of light after their 45-minute commute from the
east. It is a moment of fatigue and relief.
The man smoking the cigarette flicks the butt to the ground, lets steam
flow through his nostrils, lugs a red backpack over his shoulder and
climbs aboard the train ... on to the next stop ... out of Naperville.
7/17/05
