Day 158 - Tinley Story

Tinley Story

Matthew Ryan Fischer

 Tinley was such a nice town – it was small enough and large enough in all the right ways. There were small neighborhoods and clean public parks and plenty of recreational activities. There were mom-and-pop shops where people knew your name and local restaurants with quality dishes and reasonable prices. And there was an arts district and a community college and a stadium there that could attract touring bands and theater. Tinley was small town bliss with just the right amount of big city amenities.

It was a slice of Americana at its finest.

Shannyn was a perfect fit for Tinley. She had lived out east and she had lived out west. She loved studio art projects and late night coffee shops and the ocean. But she hated congestion and overpopulation and traffic and the cost. There was always too much hassle. And a woman can only take so much of those types of headaches. Tinley gave her a chance to teach – English Lit and Art Appreciation at a local community college. Tinley gave her a chance to have a house with a yard. A large yard. She never could have afforded that on either coast. And she got to see stars at night. The air was clean and the nights were warm and she got to see stars and dream big. For the most part she loved Tinley.

Recently a large disturbance had occurred. Two political pet projects were being built, each sponsored by special interest groups, each equally divisive around town.

Nine miles south of Tinley there was the USP Tinley – United States Penitentiary, Tinley. It would be a ‘supermax’ prison and hold some of the worst of the worst offenders. There were rumors that several domestic terrorists would be held there. No one in town was happy about that. But a good number of people all agreed that it was important. People said it was important. She knew it was important. That didn’t mean she had to like it though.

Twenty miles east of Tinley there was going to be a new bullet train line built that would eventually connect Midwestern cities to nearby Midwestern cities. It would bring construction jobs and much needed state and federal money to the region. Everyone in town liked that. But it was an expensive endeavor and it would cut through acres upon acres of different people’s farms. It was a political pet project that no one actually needed. But there were arguments that it was good for the region and good for the future and good for the environment. It seemed important. People agreed it was probably important. She knew that. But it didn’t make her like it any more.

Shannyn was becoming jaded and cynical in her middle years. She saw corruption and waste in both political parties and had little to no patience for being told what to think and what to believe was important. She had no trust for elected officials thousands of miles away and had no trust in the benevolence of their multimillion dollar endeavors. She didn’t want to hate Tinley, but she hated the exploitation and degradation that she witnessed. It seemed like any time they built something, it just made things worse. Every time someone sold people on the idea that they were making something in the name of progress, it seemed like a step backwards. Every time someone promised the future it seemed to be at the expense of the past.

She felt an overwhelming sense of loss and despair. She wondered why that was. Life was supposed to be simpler here, but for some reason it just got more and more complex. This time, she wasn’t sure there was anywhere to go. She feared that this time she had run out of real estate.