It's a sunny day-- brightness piercing through the gap in my hotel curtains-- a major pet peeve at 7am... Defeated, I get out of bed and pull the curtains open. There is something going on out there. It's so bright, I'm actually squinting! It's the kind of day that reminds you that not all of winter is ugly. I can see the highrises across the Detroit River-- there they still stand, proud and steadfast, completely unaware of the turmoil that swirls in the industry they represent and once dominated...
I am in Windsor. Eagerly awaiting my first visit to Motor City this afternoon. The Detroit Autoshow! I think an exclamation mark is fitting, despite the widespread belief that the lustre has worn off of this event, I can still feel a buzz. At least for me, this is an adventure! I am sure my Dad would have loved the opportunity to be here! I've never been to Detroit before and its reputation most certainly precedes it.
I ponder, am I to anticipate a city fraught with its own fall from grace? Like Istanbul, is Detroit filled with the melancholy of being a reminder of a fallen empire? Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk paints Istanbul as a city for the ages: yet every relic, every landmark, and every corner is a testament to the greatness it no longer proclaims-- it inescapably breathes the demise of the once mighty Ottoman Empire. Is this also the case with Detroit? Or moreover the Detroit Autoshow? Have the Domestic Car Market and “The Big 3” really fallen? Or, is Ford making a case for the fact that this downturn is (while unavoidably a downturn) is possibly a time to reassess and make the appropriate changes to ensure a fruitful future?
I recall watching Michael Moore's “Roger and Me” years ago-- and the stark reality is that some of those grave predictions did materialize. However, one astute quote from a factory worker in that movie has stayed with me all these years-- he cleverly says (something to the effect of) “Some people just don't know what time it is...” I guess the question is this: 'Big 3-- do you know what time it is?' BRING IT!
I am in Windsor. Eagerly awaiting my first visit to Motor City this afternoon. The Detroit Autoshow! I think an exclamation mark is fitting, despite the widespread belief that the lustre has worn off of this event, I can still feel a buzz. At least for me, this is an adventure! I am sure my Dad would have loved the opportunity to be here! I've never been to Detroit before and its reputation most certainly precedes it.
I ponder, am I to anticipate a city fraught with its own fall from grace? Like Istanbul, is Detroit filled with the melancholy of being a reminder of a fallen empire? Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk paints Istanbul as a city for the ages: yet every relic, every landmark, and every corner is a testament to the greatness it no longer proclaims-- it inescapably breathes the demise of the once mighty Ottoman Empire. Is this also the case with Detroit? Or moreover the Detroit Autoshow? Have the Domestic Car Market and “The Big 3” really fallen? Or, is Ford making a case for the fact that this downturn is (while unavoidably a downturn) is possibly a time to reassess and make the appropriate changes to ensure a fruitful future?
I recall watching Michael Moore's “Roger and Me” years ago-- and the stark reality is that some of those grave predictions did materialize. However, one astute quote from a factory worker in that movie has stayed with me all these years-- he cleverly says (something to the effect of) “Some people just don't know what time it is...” I guess the question is this: 'Big 3-- do you know what time it is?' BRING IT!