Never Again

Editor’s note: The horrific burning attack of innocent CTA passenger Bethany Magee the other night by habitual violent felon Lawrence Reed—allowed by judges to roam free after he had already bashed another woman unconscious– prompted many Chicagoans to swear off riding the CTA.

And so, my friend Steve the Pilot, a military veteran and commercial airline pilot who loved Chicago, wrote this for you and for others.

JK

Never Again

By Steve the Pilot

Nov. 26, 2025

It was around four ago now when I swore to myself that I’d stop riding the CTA.

Here’s my story:

I started riding the CTA rails as a young boy growing up on the north side of Chicago.  I was entranced by the whole operation and at the age of eleven, yes eleven, I would leave the house telling my mom I was going out.

For 25 cents during those days, I would jump on the “L” and incredibly be entertained all day going out as far as Jefferson Park, up the “Kosher Cannonball” to Skokie or even down the Lake-Dan Ryan to the south and west sides.

While I was aware some of the areas I was going into were less than safe, my wanderlust overrode that worry.  Plus, back in those days there was a conductor and I always rode the front car because that’s where the engineer was, who may at times leave their door open so you could watch them and more importantly you could always see out the front.  My Uncle Chris who worked for the CTA knew how much I was enthralled with the trains and one day he gave me one of the old route rolls that they had on the sides of the train telling you what line it was and if it was an “A” or “B” train, I was ecstatic.

I remember one time seeing a big fire going on with tons of smoke, which was up on north Clybourn.  I took the train up to the North and Clybourn station and walked to the scene.  That area Cabrini O Green was not necessarily a safe neighborhood at the time.  There was a huge pile of tires on fire with big flames but unfortunately it was also putting out a lot of soot as well and a lot of it landing on my yellowish t-shirt.  That took a little fancy talking when I got home and my mom asked me how it got all dirty.

Fast forward many years and I’m now a pilot going or coming from work at Midway or O’Hare and I still loved riding the rails back and forth from the airports.  While I didn’t take it late at night, I had no issue taking it before 10pm.  On days off I would even take my sons when they were young on the rails for their entertainment and to get out of the house.  I’m a train and plane guy.

Then came Covid, Lightfoot and Brandon, but there’s always been Toni Preckwinkle who has created it all.

She is the author of pre-trial release, the architect of the anarchy plaguing the Cook County criminal justice system.

I had NEVER driven out to the airports during my entire 25-year career at the time.

Yes, if I had an early or late flight, I would take a cab and sometimes splurge if I needed to get somewhere in a hurry but otherwise it was always the Blue or Orange line.

As we rolled through Covid and then the riots, you started to hear about issues on the trains so I decided I would start limiting my riding time to between the rush hours.  This kind of messed up my flexibility because there were many times when I would go out of one airport and arrive in the other which made using the train very compelling.

I looked at my work trips more closely so I could choose the ones that allowed me to still use the trains if I was going out one and in the other.

Then I stopped using the Orange Line after you would hear about issues around the Roosevelt Rd stop and others during all times of the day.  And then…

It was three in the afternoon at O’Hare. I was coming home from a trip and I decided I would treat myself to a nice bag of caramel corn for the train ride home.

I got on the train, sat down and had a little of my snack.  I then rolled up the bag and set it on top of my stuff.

I’m a city boy through and through and my head is always on a swivel.  I don’t go to my trunk without locking my doors, so I put my earbuds in and looked out the window.

The ear buds were not on, that would block out any noise that could keep you alive.

The ear buds were there to give me the ability to strategically ignore others.

Shortly after the lightly filled train started moving a very tall black man approached me and started to talk to me.  I initially ignored him but he was persistent.

Finally, I realized my strategy was not working and things were going to start to escalate, so I looked at him and pulled out an ear bud.  I said, “Can I help you?” and said to me, “I want your popcorn, give me your popcorn.”  I handed him my popcorn and said to myself, never again, it’s not worth the cost.  That was the last time I took the train.

We don’t let our sons take the train now if they’re going to O’Hare or Midway, we tell them we will pay for the taxi/uber.

I prayed in church today for this young woman and her loved ones.  You wake up in the morning thinking it’s all ok and then your life changes, either by gasoline or a log on Michigan Avenue.  No one deserves this!  The city leadership doesn’t care about you and it seems in Chicago, neither do your fellow passengers.

Sad.

-30-

Steve the Pilot was born in Chicago and lived on the North Side before being driven out of the city of Chicago by rising violent crime. 

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