Michigan, et. al.

Every time I come to either Detroit, Auburn Hills...or even Windsor, ON I'm reminded of better days. Days when mom and pop diners, stores and shops existed to serve the literal masses of customers in these areas.

I've been here in Auburn Hills, MI for two days...I drove by the Chrysler corporate office compound mid-day today and discovered that I could do donuts in their main parking lot and no one would be the wiser. It's a huge facility...and after reading about the 'clock incident', I wonder where all of those clocks are stored...I'd love to see that room. The ticking must be deafening. In my highly opinionated world, it's both sad and poetic...Chrylser, in its heyday, made some beautiful cars (waaaaayyy back) and engineered some nice feats. The true Hemi engine was a masterpiece.

Since my last trip to the area in April, several of the mom and pop restaurants, diners and stores have closed down...some were doing one hell of a business 6 months ago and now they've got chain link fencing around the perimeter-keeping those who remain out. And that got me to thinking-there are a lot of teens in this town. They work at the remaining gas stations, fast food places and restaurants...and there are a lot of people that want those jobs. Kids that were born during the height of Detroit, when the economy was strong, cars were selling, home prices were on the rise and life was good. It's amazing what fifteen years can do to a town...build it up, only to watch it crumble, one block at a time. It's depressing...no doubt about it.

I'm here to transition the tasks of a guy who's voluntarily leaving the company to pursue another avenue (IT). He's been in the industry for 15 years and he's finally had enough...I had two and a half days to get as much out of him as possible. This guy is flexible, adaptable and knows more than one aspect of more than one job...and that's ultimately what allowed the opportunity to be available to him. We talked today at lunch about how there are so many people in the area-people who've only known, learned and executed one job for over a decade...people who are one paycheck away from living in their car...people who must now swallow their pride and apply for a job at WalMart-and convince the hiring manager, someone who probably went to high school with their kid, to hire them. That's a big fucking crow to choke down in any book...but that's what happens when you put all of your eggs in one basket thinking that basket can never break, fall or be tipped over. How you prepare the ground below is what determines how many eggs you have left when the basket tips...it's never a matter of how it'll tip, but when it'll tip...

I'm working to finish my degree to open up my options list for other industries...the water's getting choppy again and I've still yet to recover from the last boating trip.

At least I know how to swim.

Background Tune: "I alone" --Live