Girl on bike pops Lake Forest Bubble
By: Haskins, Tara
Issue date: 9/21/06 Section: Editorial
Something major has recently affected my relationship with the residents of Lake Forest and Lake Forest as a community. A CAR HIT ME WHILE I WAS RIDING MY BIKE. It was ridiculous, to say the least. It was a simple situation; me on my bike on the sidewalk, him in his SUV pulling out of a parking lot. He took the turn too sharp, without stopping, and he "just didn't see me". My bike is pretty much fine, I was not hurt, but he almost took me out. All the damage is on his dented car, the paint job, and, as I would like to envision, his ego.
It seems like an isolated incident, as I don't know how many people have been hit while riding their bikes- actually I was stopped on the sidewalk- or just sitting on their bikes. But the accident is one of the more dramatic examples of what we all refer to as the "Lake Forest Bubble". I'd like to refer to it as having their heads up their asses; because that is the only way this man could have not seen me.
The Lake Forest Bubble becomes apparent when you are trying to look at a pair of shoes at the Lake Forest Bootery during a sidewalk sale, because the two girls who are also looking at shoes obviously don't seem to understand that a simple step to their left or right would allow more people to check out shoes from a different vantage point than behind their heads. The bubble comes out when you work at Einstein's and a customer comes in 15 minutes before Close to order a dozen Power bagels when there are only two left, then creates a ruckus demanding that more bagels be made! Everyone has their own stories of experiences as an outsider to the Lake Forest Bubble. In A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers, a Lake Forest native, references the Lake Forest Bubble, as if it were common knowledge!
The Bubble is the faux reality that many Lake Forest residents seem to operate within. I see it as a result of the families having lived in a wealthy, socially over-active community for generations, either in Lake Forest or similar communities. The Bubble makes it difficult for outsiders (i.e. college students) to have necessary interactions within the community. Rudeness, arrogance, unawareness, and general Lake-Forest-centrism emerge and make life a little more difficult, and dangerous. I lived in Highland Park this summer and I rode my bike everyday- not once was I hit. Coincidence? NO. Lake Forest College should pick up and move there.
It seems like an isolated incident, as I don't know how many people have been hit while riding their bikes- actually I was stopped on the sidewalk- or just sitting on their bikes. But the accident is one of the more dramatic examples of what we all refer to as the "Lake Forest Bubble". I'd like to refer to it as having their heads up their asses; because that is the only way this man could have not seen me.
The Lake Forest Bubble becomes apparent when you are trying to look at a pair of shoes at the Lake Forest Bootery during a sidewalk sale, because the two girls who are also looking at shoes obviously don't seem to understand that a simple step to their left or right would allow more people to check out shoes from a different vantage point than behind their heads. The bubble comes out when you work at Einstein's and a customer comes in 15 minutes before Close to order a dozen Power bagels when there are only two left, then creates a ruckus demanding that more bagels be made! Everyone has their own stories of experiences as an outsider to the Lake Forest Bubble. In A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers, a Lake Forest native, references the Lake Forest Bubble, as if it were common knowledge!
The Bubble is the faux reality that many Lake Forest residents seem to operate within. I see it as a result of the families having lived in a wealthy, socially over-active community for generations, either in Lake Forest or similar communities. The Bubble makes it difficult for outsiders (i.e. college students) to have necessary interactions within the community. Rudeness, arrogance, unawareness, and general Lake-Forest-centrism emerge and make life a little more difficult, and dangerous. I lived in Highland Park this summer and I rode my bike everyday- not once was I hit. Coincidence? NO. Lake Forest College should pick up and move there.