The Parking Lot Goose

Chicago is no stranger to the goose. Its home to Goose Island, The Mother Goose Parade, and it supports one of the largest Canadian Geese populations in the United States. There's geese in the Chicago River, geese in Lake Michigan, and geese all over the north and west suburbs. And why not? With fresh grass, large parks and few natural predators, the goose can flourish. That's why what I'm about to tell you is so interesting. For there's a goose in Chicago that refuses to be like everyone else. It's known as The Parking Lot Goose.

The Parking Lot Goose is a loner. It lingers along a near vacant parking lot between an electronic store and a furniture depot. There's no pond to swim in. Food consists of scraps by a nearby dumpster and there’s no other goose to interact with. This is The Parking Lot Goose's home. But, as dismal as this goose's existence might seem, the bird refuses to leave.

The first time I drove past the goose, I thought that this was something random and that the bird would surely move on and reunite with other pond geese soon. But one year became two, two became three, and after sometime, I'd come to the realization that The Parking Lot Goose wasn't going anywhere. This was its kingdom, where it felt most comfortable. Living in the vast gray cement field with scraps as its feast and puddles of water as its wine was what the goose enjoyed. And who was I to judge?

Often in writing, we hurry to critique literary Parking Lot Geese. Stephen King's recent genre exploration has been frowned upon. Andrew Smith's consistent choice to write about teenage angst is often berated. Even young authors are attacked. Literature websites and blogs demand inspiring writers to get out of their comfort zone. There's more than one article out in the world that states, "You need to remember that you're writing to sell books. Target an audience, not yourself." This is faulty logic.

We live in a consumer’s world, so I get it when someone's criticism is that a book will not sell. We have these expectations that everyone wants the same thing. And don't get me wrong, if an author reaches out to a publisher, to a certain extent, they do want people to read their work. But we have to remember that if an author isn't enjoying writing their book, you're not going to enjoy reading it. Maybe it's time to stop castigating writers for creating books that make them happy, and instead come to understand that not everything is made to fit the norm. If we can all learn to appreciate those Parking Lot Geese out there, we may discover that their peculiar way of going about things can be just as great.