Why Detroit Lives

Detroiters take a beating regularly. Whether it's the economy, sports, the auto business, foreclosures, all sorts of things. On top of that, winter weather is just plain bitterly cold.

So why does Detroit live? Why do Detroiters stay and keep going on? Well, someone has an answer. And when you think about it, it's an answer for all of us.

Mitch Albom, sometimes author (20 million copies of just 9 books is pretty darn good, folks) and long-time sports writer for the Detroit Free Press and Sports Illustrated, knows the reason and has written about it eloquently.

His is a story about changing downtowns, factory workers, soup kitchens, small talk among strangers, the reminder of Sweetest Day, and people who want to scream and don't.

Detroit right now feels like a lot of us. An ember of hope in the midst of dusty dreams yet to be. Of unemployment numbers in the midst of personal loyalty. Roots and perseverance. What Detroit has, is what many of us need.

Detroit hasn't given up, in spite of all the reasons things have been tough. It's like the rest of us that way. Too many news broadcasts with nothing but negative have filled up our evenings. Too much uncertainty in these times caused constant worry and fret for ourselves, our families, and each other. But the people of Detroit haven't given up.

They hang on for the same reason all of us do. They remember when things were better and know it can be again. Its people recall the glory days of not so long ago. A time when people made things and no one even heard of something called a "service industry" because the very word industry meant something else. It meant something more.

Detroiters don't leave, don't quit, and don't give up. They have lived through the best and now they're living through the worst. Moreso than many others. They stick it out because they know their neighbors and their neighborhoods. They're family. They like where they are and they know who they are and they have faith in what they know will come to be, sooner or later.

In spite of all the bad jokes and all the bad times, they haven't given up. Mitch Albom writes beautifully of the reasons that Detroit is more like every corner of this country than anyone will ever admit, without ever pointing it out.

When this country regains the faith that Detroiters have, this near-depression will go away and this life will get better for all of us. Everyone knows that this country has been through an awful lot of bad in the last 8 years and maybe much longer than that for some. But the people in Detroit still have a stubborn faith in a future that will be better for their kids than they've seen for themselves.

Take a minute to read Mitch Albom's article on the courage of Detroit. He could have written it about a thousand towns in this country. Maybe even your's. It'll give you hope to realize that in a town that has taken it very hard, there they still hope.

This probably all sounds strange, coming from lawyers who fight with the Detroit Big 3 all the time. But it's sort of a family fight. Believe it or not, we love cars. We just want them to run right. Until they do, we can wait and argue with the Big 3 every time a new client comes in with one that doesn't run right. We still have faith that someday they will. Until then, we'll just keep arguing.

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