Downtown employee can’t get to work because of another looting
On August 10th, 2020, all of downtown Chicago was shut down because a protest took place. Following the day’s events, The Real Chi spoke with several individuals who shared their frustrations about how their commute to and from their places of employment was impacted by the protest.
“I mean, I don’t know. It’s bad enough that COVID shut everything down for a while. And now I have to worry about getting to and from work safely because people won’t stop looting,” said Elizabeth Venegas, who opened up about how she was affected by looters and downtown Chicago being shut down. “I can’t take the train to work, and I can’t take the bus. I can’t even drive down there without the roads being blocked. So there goes my money, I guess.”
As a result of the protest taking place downtown, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) was shut down, including the trains and buses that lead to the Chicago Loop.
Unfortunately, other employees that work downtown have to deal with the consequences of other people’s actions. As Venegas expressed, COVID-19 has taken everything away from employees, but this just adds onto the turmoil for the working class.
“I don’t think looters understand what happens after they break into stores downtown,” Venegas said. “People that have jobs in Chicago have to pay for the damage through our taxes now. It just isn’t fair to me or anyone else who works hard for their money. I have bills, too. I have a child. They aren’t taking other people into consideration. Now, I have to struggle because why? Because people wanna steal things that they don’t wanna buy? And I gotta have my money taken away because of that?”
Looters were caught on video throughout the night, and some believe that it was planned because people broke into stores overnight. Venegas pointed out a video she found on Twitter.
Venegas and other employees were grateful that they were not a part of the looting; however, she was worried about her city.
“The worst part is that I can’t do anything about it,” Venegas said. “I feel like we can’t do anything about anything right now.”