Recently my husband and I (both in our 70s) had to stop our car in the crosswalk for a lengthy funeral procession while making a west turn on Chicago and Oak Park avenues. The cars in the funeral were headed west.
We guessed it was a gang funeral of some sort since drivers opened their windows yelling gross expletives in anger at us. Another passenger opened his door, yelled an expletive, and spat in our direction. Others were sitting on their window sills or standing through their sun roofs yelling as their cars swerved around us.
After a while an Oak Park police car followed what we thought was the end of the procession. But no, more cars followed and we were stuck.
We were genuinely frightened since we were blocked by other cars in the crosswalk and couldn’t move. Had someone jumped out, we literally had no room to move.
I remember reading about rules in place about funerals driving through Oak Park on their way to the cemetery. Whatever came of that discussion? This week a large number of people were shot at a different funeral in Chicago. What can be done about this serious situation?
It seems unimaginable that we have to deal with this in our neighborhoods and that cemeteries might not be safe places.
Maryanne Rusinak
Oak Park
