Well Said, Little Troll

Say what you will about Mitch Albom, I know I have. It may be harsh to call him a "troll." He definitely is arrogant, but he sure can write. If you live in, or grew up in, Michigan, you HAVE TO read his article in Sports Illustrated. The Free Press ran it a few days ago.

It sincerely sums up most of what I feel about Detroit myself.

"We don't talk about whether Detroit will be fixed but when Detroit will be fixed."

"...To watch these lawmakers hand out, with barely a whisper, hundreds of billions to the financial firms that helped cause this current disaster, then make the Detroit Three beg like dogs and slap them with nothing? Honestly."

"Do you think if your main industry sails away to foreign countries, if the tax base of your city dries up, you won't have crumbling houses and men sleeping on church floors, too? Do you think if we become a country that makes nothing, that builds nothing, that only services and outsources, that we will hold our place on the economic totem pole? Detroit may be suffering the worst from this semi-Depression, but we sure didn't invent it. And we can't stop it from spreading. We can only do what we do. Survive."

When I first started my office job, I had to explain to people that I actually LIKED working downtown. I had to explain this to people who lived LESS THAN 15 MILES AWAY from the center of the city. I was constantly telling them that I never felt unsafe. And yes, there were dirty and abandoned neighborhoods, but you just had to be smart and aware, as with any major city.

Now, nobody bats an eyelash. In fact, they will tell me about the last time they went Downtown and had a great time. Sometimes I'm asked for the best places to park, or grab a bite to eat.

It seems that people are more likely to embrace The D. And as Mr. Albom wrote that piece for Sports Illustrated, it has a lot to do with the Sports Teams. But along with that is--all we have is each other. Nobody but a Michigander knows what it's like to live in Michigan, right now. I'll take it. And along with that, the promise of Hope from a new Presidency.

Co-misery and Hope. Yeah, I'm still working on that attitude adjustment.....