Who cares about Detroit?

I've been meaning to write this for some time now. Months ago I heard some TV personality say that the US Automakers should file for bankruptcy because after all they got themselves into this situation and why should we, the American People, have to bail them out. "Let Detroit go under" he said. The whole bailout thing I actually agree with. Why should my tax dollars be used to help a private industry or business? But I take serious issue with it being a "Detroit" problem. This problem is a national one and could be crippling for our economy for many years. To be so naive as to believe that Detroit is the only area affected by a possible bankruptcy of the "big 3" is well, naive.

I have customers in TN and KY who used to buy cutting tools on a weekly if not by-weekly basis. I can tell you that one of these two customers has not purchased anything in 8 months and the other has placed one order in the last 6 months. I know that each of those companies have also gone through some pretty massive layoffs. I hear it from customers all across the country that things are slow. Companies go out of business or are very slow paying their bills now.

I recently saw a show on CNN where a panel of 4 (2 men and 2 woman) were discussing this whole auto industry issue. They were interviewing the mayor of Lansing, Michigan (sorry I dont have his name right now). The Mayor of Lansing was insisting that we need to manufacture things in this country. One of the panelists argued with him saying that we as Americans cannot afford to buy things that were made in this country because they are just too darn expensive. After the Lansing Mayor hung up and the interview was over this same panalist stated that he personally wants to buy things made in China and that we have to keep making things in China because they are cheaper. I do not wish harm on anyone but I wonder how his opinion would be if he had a child that spent the afternoon chewing on the lead paint of its latest toy. I also wonder how he would feel if CNN became the "Chinese News Network" and he lost his job. Afterall couldn't we just pipe in via satellite the world news from Bejing? You could have an entire Chinese staff give us our American news. He would be the first one to cry when his overpaid job went away to foreign competition.

I have nothing against China or the Chinese. I do believe though that at one time the United States of America was the land of opportunity. We, as Americans, accept foreigners into this great country of ours so that we can share the American Dream. I have never heard of the Chinese Dream or the Asian Dream. When did it become our responsibility to worry about what lifestyle the people of communist China were living? Why is it presented to us that we cannot pull all of the work out of China and bring it back here to the US because it would devestate China? Where is the American Dream my Grandfather, Uncles and my Father fought for?! I don't get it.

So who cares about Detroit? Well, I as one do because I am not solely out for myself but I am out to save and restore what was once the American Dream - The Land of Opportunity - the greatest nation on Mother Earth. Oh sure, Ford GM and Chrysler could go the way of the Dinosaur and we would get by somehow. But if we do not continue to manufacture in this country where will we be? We must make things here to keep people working, to keep the economy flowing and to maintain our peace of mind. If we stop making things and we go to war how long will it take for China to make a tank for us and why once we get it do I see forward gear going reverse and left being right? It doesn't work people. A slow boat bringing us Chinese made armed tanks and aircraft doesn't make any more sense than us receiving lead paint toys for our children and tainted toothpaste for our twice a day routine.

What language would you be speaking now if it had not been for the manufacturing efforts of Detroit during the World Wars? The Declaration of Independence states that we as a people have an obligation to rise up and take back our country from our own government if that government fails to lead us in a prosperous direction. An OBLIGATION. I bet George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson are a little unsettled in their graves these days.

In Congress July 4, 1776. The unanimous declaration of the thirteen united States of America as penned by John Hancock states: "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

Hancock was speaking of the King of Great Britain but do not the same words apply to any government that governs and/or controls these great United States?

Why do things have to change?

I thought about the title line for this post for a few minutes.  "Why do things have to change?".  At first read this sounds like something an old man might say along with "I remember when" or the infamous "Back in the day..." but I am not an old man.  Not by number or spirit.  I will say that I have seen change many times in my life and though many people do not like change I accept it and typically do not have an issue with it.  

Last week I heard of General Motors dropping the Pontiac Brand Name.  For most of you this probably passed in one ear and out the other as you could possibly care less about that news.  But for me it hit a nerve.  In 1984 I bought my first real car.  I had others in the past but they were given to me or sold to me by family members.  This car was my first out-of-the family car purchase.  A 1978 Pontiac Trans-AM.  Now, "back in the day" these babies had a 6.6 400 HP motor in them.  Mine had a .... hmmm.... well this is sad I cant remember if it was 454 or 455 but either way this car moved when you hit the gas.  My only complaint was that it was bright yellow with black interior.  The interior was going to receive peer approval for sure but the yellow exterior made me cringe a bit.  My friends were driving GTO's, Chevelle's, Fast back Mustangs and none of them were yellow.  There were a few of us who wrenched on cars and helped each other keep our road machines running.  

"I remember when" you could work on a car yourself.  If it stopped running you dragged it to "Norms" house. Yes his name was Norm.  He had all the tools and all the tricks to keep our cars on the road.  We would wrench on one thing or another for a couple of hours and "bam" you'd be up and running and the smile would return.  You can't work on cars anymore.  Many young people are probably asking why you would want to and the answer is this:  It was a bonding thing.  Three or four guys standing around a car, wrenching on this, replacing that and you talked about everything from hamburgers to girls while you worked.  It may sound crazy if you didnt participate in anything like this but it was fantastic.  It was worth having a car that needed constant wrenching to keep it going. (editors note: If you are smiling right now because you know what I am talking about you are ok in my book)

But this post really wasn't to be about my '78 Trans-AM.  No, it was about things changing.  You see, I don't see Norm or any of those guys anymore.  In fact our time together was fleeting because we were young and youth is fleeting.  We all grow up and move on to live our lives.  I met those guys when we all worked at McDonalds flipping burgers or doing maintenance.  Those were our first jobs so we shared that together too.  This is where my story starts.

I was born just after the baby boom in this country.  My older brothers generation caused many new schools to be built to hold their masses.  My generation was the beginning of the smaller families with fewer children.  All of the schools and teachers wouldn't be needed as class sizes diminished.  I had the honor of being the last class out of nearly every school I attended.  I went to Clay Elementary School in Livonia Michigan.  It closed after I graduated to Junior High or Middle School now I guess it is called - another thing that changed for no reason.  I attended Dickinson Junior High (Funny I can't remember now if it was spelled "Dickenson" or Dickinson" come to think of it I don't think I ever had to spell it before) also in Livonia.  It closed the year after I graduated from it.  Two schools closing right after my class.  This still may not mean much to you but I knew then that it was a sad thing because I would never be able to go back revisit my youth by walking the halls or if I lived in the area later in life have my children attend those schools and be able to mutter "I remember when".

Remember that McDonalds that my friends and I worked at?  Well, just after I left for a better job - they torn it down.  How many times have you seen a McDonalds get torn down? But it gets better.  They rebuilt a new McDonalds building, not down the block or around the corner but on the same plot of land.  In the exact same location.  I had many great times at that McDonalds Restaurant.  I met great friends, I dated many great girls, I practically started my adult life - the life after high school - there at McDonalds.  What a great place that was to meet people.  Most of my girlfriends at that time I met there.  We played baseball against the other area McDonalds. The store managers actually coordinated other crews from other McDonalds to come to our store and work it so we could go play baseball against another store.  You know, that was really cool!  I bet they do not do that anymore.  One other thing about that place, I had a few girls at the time who told me that they hated going to work until they pulled in and saw my yellow Trans-AM in the parking lot.  How cool did that make me feel? Great! - nice to hear too that the whole yellow car thing didn't keep me down! It must have been the shaker hood.

You can see how all of this is linking together.  It is my past.  It is ultimately how I have shaped into the person who I am today. Norm and some of the other fellas working together to get our cars ready for the weekend are still in my memories.  The great girls that I dated are still in my memory.  We all have a past of things that we experienced.  It would be nice if these remained the same so we could go back and visit but things must move on.  

Now it is Pontiac.  Up until last week when GM announced it would drop the Pontiac label I held hope for a new Trans-AM.  Even after the new Camaro came out I still thought there was a chance but now there is no chance.  It is ok and I will survive but it is just another thing that I will never be able to go back and revisit.  One of my favorite songs of that era was "When you close your eyes do you dream about me?"  I believe it was by Honeymoon Suite but I may be wrong. One of the lines in that song is "I remember when we learned about love in the back of a Chevrolet".  It just doesn't sound the same if it were: "I remember when we learned about love in our Toyota". 

Move on and get over it.  I can read your mind you know.  Especially if you are young you are probably thinking that I should stop complaining and move on - things change.  Just remember this, one day your children will be playing virtual reality video games.  They will put a helmet on and sit in a chair or lay down on their bed and they will be able to just think their next move.  You will stand there and say, "Back in the day we had it made - we actually had to move levers and push buttons and hold a controller.  Now a days these young people don't know what it's like to play a video game. All they do is sit there and think and the game does everything for them. These kids are lazy."   

Ah age - the horrible part is that things change - the great part is too that things change.  Wouldn't it be boring if everyday were the same as the last one?  Some like blondes, some like brunettes for me it's redheads.