Cartoon: Another sign Philadelphia is returning to normal

Fourteen months into the pandemic, things are beginning to get back to normal in Philadelphia.

Center City is bouncing back, with larger crowds as more and more people get vaccinated. Sixers and Phillies fans are back at the stadium, with the numbers expected to swell in the next few weeks. Vaccinated Philadelphians are beginning to strut around town without a mask (even though the city hasn’t yet matched the CDC’s relaxed guidelines).

» READ MORE: Reopening MLK Drive to cars is bad for Philadelphia’s collective mental health | Opinion

And thanks in part to all of that, cars are beginning to fill up the city’s streets once again. A return of the heated, profane arguments we’re accustomed to hearing between drivers and bike riders can’t be that far behind.

Who hasn’t missed the background hum of profane screams over slight infractions of traffic rules? The murmur of complaints as bicycles fly through red lights has long been part of the city’s summer soundtrack, accented by the shouts following cars as they veer into bike lanes.

I hope I’m wrong, and we all come out of this pandemic a little kinder and a bit more patient for those choosing to use a different style of transportation. Two wheels or four, we all hate the city’s potholes, right? Maybe we can all just direct our venom there, though I think cursing at the ground would still be cause for alarm, pandemic or not.

Here are some of my recent cartoons. For more editorial cartoons, visit the Inquirer’s cartoon section.