If you spy Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on the Brown line, and you take a surreptitious photo on your smartphone, warning: The flash may go off.
Twenty-five-year-old Chicago commuter Ben Albers learned this lesson the hard way last February when an attempt to secretly snap Emanuel backfired, his camera flashing in the mayor's face. On the bright side: Albers got a great image out of the cringe-inducing experience and survived a potential tongue-lashing from the famously brash city boss. (See more Rahm-on-the-L photos below.)
"You can really see that deathly vampire stare in the photo," he tells the Sun-Times, which has posted the visual evidence and a video interview with the amateur photographer. "I just immediately put my head down right after that and just hoped he wouldn’t tell his security guard to kick my a-- or throw me off the train or anything like that."
Emanuel sightings abound on social media—the Ravenswood resident takes the Brown Line to work twice weekly—but the major Chicago paper rarely covers commuters' photos as news-worthy.
When AE Kelly Bradley saw Chicago Mayor @RahmEmanuel on her train, she seized a selfie opportunity. Top that, Ellen! pic.twitter.com/Qahy6NjQAo — MARC USA (@MARCUSAagency) March 18, 2014
Local
Even @RahmEmanuel can't get a seat with decrowding. RT @styleatasteal: Riding the #BrownLine w/ the Mayor. pic.twitter.com/VT1Xvzl8 — CTA Fails (@CTAFails) January 23, 2013
Sometimes the mayor takes the Red Line.
