The city’s alleys historically have been peopled by pickers and scrappers, who must now trundle past and through mounds of emblems of Mammon. Even casual dog walkers face the daily drift of delivery cartons, which few Chicagoans flatten and compact into recycling carts. Behold the sprawling evidence of the impulsive and casually spendthrift modern consumer. The baby blue-striped Amazon Prime boxes brimming with air cushions and detailed receipts; acres of Grubhub foil and Seamless, UberEats, DoorDash, Postmates and Caviar cartons-within-boxes; vacuum-sealed plastic bags encasing smaller bags. Amazon is actually a world-girdling delivery system that just happens to propel products. Praise be to the immense Chewy.com cartons that transported fifty-pound sacks of Dalmatian chow on the backs of cursing UPS drivers. “Plastics” was the word for the financial prospects for the future in “The Graduate.” Today? “Paperboard.” (Ray Pride)
