To be a Chicagoan is to step outside on a frigid winter day and see a man in shorts. He may be walking his dog or grabbing something from his car. He may be a college student strolling to class. Silly boys. I scoff at them, but silently, I also salute them. Their hardiness borders on insanity. And yet all of us who willingly brave these glacial temps share something with the men in shorts: resilience, bravado, and a dash of the absurd.