The City That Didn't Work

Just about everyone was shut down. Unless you generated revenue:

• You could not get a library book or see a doctor in a city health clinic Monday in Chicago, but you could pay a parking ticket or fight to un-boot your car, provided you'd wait in a line long enough for an amusement park ride. Cops, firemen and privatized parking meters were working, however, even if nothing else was.
  
  From a security guard answering phones in the mayor's office at City Hall to a harried staff collecting payments of fines at one of the few city offices open Monday, confusion and frustration reigned in the City that Works, which by design wasn't officially working at all.

And Police Department operations were affected, despite assurances that we'd be at full strength:

• Animal Control ran a skeleton crew, meaning extra long response times to vicious animals and strays, meaning police manpower wasted babysitting dogs;
• Most of Fleet's gas stations were closed, meaning tens of extra miles driving to find gas and tens of extra minutes that cars were out of district not answering calls, leading to monumental backlogs;

And did anyone get a look at the lakefront? Two days worth of garbage from 2 million Air & Water Show attendees stacked and spilling over cans and dumpsters. Way to keep Chicago a world class city there Shortshanks.

UPDATE: Someone is hassling us in the comments saying that the lakefront was picked up within hours of the event ending. All we know is that it wasn't cleaned up after we left the lakefront and no one was picking up when we passed by after a 1900 hour downtown dinner. And we drove the entire length of LSD.

Also, some other commentator is stating that the Park District had huge crews in white garbage trucks cleaning the lakefront after the event. Who were these people? Subcontractors? On a Sunday? If so, where's the savings generated by having everyone off on Monday? Or is this more union busting by Shortshanks? Anyone?