From the day
Perspective: The Anxious Local · Sound
The tinny blast of *The Sheik of Araby* from a neighbor’s gramophone can’t drown out the fearful chatter on the street about Governor Miller’s axe falling on every state job. I clutched my threadbare coat tighter, listening to the frantic rattle of the Elevated train while staring at the baker’s window in disbelief. Handing over two nickels and a penny, I felt a sharp pang of dread that **$0.11** for a single loaf of bread is becoming the new, cruel normal. Everyone else acts like this jittery city is the bee’s knees, but with these skyrocketing prices, I’m shaking like one of those new-fangled mechanical robots.