Michigan: The Modern Day Bermuda Triangle

Michigan, by far, is becoming the worst state in this country. It is still battling with Ohio to take the title of last place, but Ohio is still putting up a hell of a fight. I can't help but compare the situation to the battle that the Detroit Lions continually face. They are clearly one of the absolute worst teams and front offices that exist in the NFL, but somehow always seem to become dead last. This is a great analogy for the state of Michigan. The businesses within the state have had enough with the people and the front office. What do you mean? You don't enjoy the leadership of Debbie Stabuenthaback, Jennifer Granhomely, and the notorious Hip-Hop Mayor himself, Kwame Kilpatrick.

Obviously, this is leading to a story. Here it is. I decided late last week that I was going to come home for a buddy's birthday. I bought a train ticket from Union Station in Chicago to a couple benches and an awning in Royal Oak Michigan. The train left on time and I got the two seats to myself so I could spread out my shit and got some reading done. But the recently released felon two rows back and across the isle from me decided that it was not going to be a peaceful ride for any of us. For three hours he spoke to himself anf harrassed all those around him. He let everyone know he had just been let out of prison and that he wasn't afraid of "white men because they are to much of cowards to step up and do anything". I put this into english, it was a little harder to piece it together on the train. The people around him would only last a few minutes. Many retreated to other cars or simply moved as far as possible. We also found out that our criminal friend has some sour feelings not only towards our government but also those that serve this country. He repeatedly made comments to the six Naval Officers in our car letting them know that he thought they had made a bad choice. Some of his most memorable comments were as follows: "Go protect your country, I hope you get shot in the face", "You know your gonna die Bobo", "Why are these undercover cops following me?", and "Have anyone ever made you feel like a little boy?". We were all thrilled when he pulled together $4 in change to extend his stay on the train. But sooner or later this fairytale had to end. He kind of went peacefully. He grabbed a guys magazine and shredded it while throwing the remnants in every direction. We pulled into the Battle Creek station and the show was over............for now.

Long story short, a bunch of us took our buddy out on Saturday and got him completely shitfaced.

Sunday, time to head back to Chicago. I caught a ride home from my roommate who still had the shakes from the massive amounts of booze from the night before. Everything was going well other then the fact that we were leaving a little bit later then we had hoped. We stopped at Exit 110 on I-94 for some gas and something to eat and we thought we would have a straight shot home. But as soon he tried to start the car up so we could get back on the road we had some difficulties. The key would spin in the ingnition but would not activate the starter. This had happened before. "Well what did you do last time to fix it?" Tow truck and a mechanic. The problem was that we both had to be to work in about twelve hours and we were three hours from Chicago. Over the next several hours we tried many things. We banged on the steering column, turned the key a couple thousand times and popped it in and out of gear. But after some help from my roommates dad and the attendant at the Truck Stop that we broke down at we got the car running. It involved getting a jump from an Envoy, forgot the mention that the batttery died while working on the car, I was bypassing his security system under the steering column and my roommate was under the car, arching the posts of the solenoid with a screwdriver that he was holding with a sock so that we wouldn't electricute himself.

Michigan is a mystery to me. It took me so long to be able to get out of the bubble. I never believed that I could live outside of that bubble. The state demoralizes you and makes to complacent. But I don't want that for everyone that I know in Michigan. Get out, explore, see other places of the country. The state is still in a pattern of decline and you don't have to stand for it.

My trip shows me that Michigan wanted to teach me a lesson for leaving and on top of that, it wanted to make me stay. Do not underestimate the evil that is contained in Michigan and its political parties.