My Mitten

In a few hours I will will shove my suitcases into the car, ride along 94 East toward Detroit Metro, sit in the airport bar and have a few beers, hop on a plane and fly back to DC, my new home.

This will be my last trip to Michigan this year, and the last in I'm not sure how long. But upon my next return I pray that this state, the state of my home, will at least find some direction and climb itself out of the massive hole it finds itself in now.

See, for those of you unfamiliar, Michigan is struggling. Michigan is on life-support. Michigan needs help.

The downturn in the auto-industry has shuttered the once-resilient manufacturing base. The economic collapse here has forced companies to abandon the state in search of more viable land south. The job losses have precipitated banks foreclosing on people's houses.

People are starting to shake their heads, and people are starting to lose hope.

That's sad enough in the abstract, but today the concrete displayed itself when, while standing in line at a gas station, an aging man in his mid 50s handed a wrinkled $10 bill to the cashier, announcing he wanted $5 back, since it was all he could afford.

Living out of state, it's nice to run into people from Michigan. We exchange our home towns and talk about any time we may have spent there and any stories we have about out life living in the state. There is a certain pride that comes from the Michigan-born. And I have that pride.

That's why it's so tragic to see what my state has become.

This is where I was born. This is where I was raised. This is where I was educated, and where I educated. This is where I'm from. This is where I rode my first bike, kissed my first girl, drove my first car, met my first girlfriend and wore my first graduation cap. This is my state. And it's one of the saddest things to see my home state's political leaders leading it further into an abysmal abyss that, seemingly, has no end.

Right now we are the mockery of late-night talk show hosts and headlines in satirical newspapers. This shattered economy is showing no signs of a pulse and the slide will apparently continue.

A friend of my mom's was in New York for a business conference when the speaker asked if anyone was from Michigan. My mom's friend put her hand in the air. The speaker then went on to tell her she should leave. She said Michigan would take 30 years to recover from this fractured economic bone.

That better not be true. Something must be done. This state is worth more than a cavalier brush off.

I won't lie to you and tell you I have any answers. I don't. But somebody pretty damn smart better come up with some answers pretty damn quick. Michiganders as a whole are tough, resilient, kind, caring, thoughtful and hardworking. And the elected representatives of this state owe those people more than political discord and bickering. While Michigan continues to bleed out, Republicans and Democrats haggle over the size of the Band Aid to apply to the gunshot wound. Enough.

It's time to figure it the fuck out.

I love this state.