The weather has been so great that I’ve taken a little hiatus from home-hunting in order to play dodge-the-E. coli-outbreak down at the lake. Recently, I planned to swim at Kathy Osterman Beach, only to be thwarted by the red flags, which indicate that the Chicago Park District has found dangerous levels of E. coli in the water and has banned swimming.
I overheard a mother talking excitedly about taking junior for a paddle and thought I should tell her about the red flags. I was gobsmacked by her response:
“Well, E. coli only affects you if it gets in your mouth, so as long as we keep our mouths closed we should be fine,” the woman said.
Now, I’m no biology major, but that sounded daft to me. Even if she is right, how can you guarantee that you won’t get any water in your mouth when you swim, especially when you are possessed of a mouth of the magnitude of this woman’s? Also, who uses a child as a guinea pig when the city has seen fit to close the beach?
Anyway, now I’m scared of the beach, so I’ve shifted my house-hunting from Rogers Park to ‘hoods like Bridgeport and Irving Park.