 
Sharms
Member
Username: Sharms
Post Number: 13
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 2:30 am: |    |
I came to work for Channel 7 in 1982. After growing up in the Detroit area, I really hadn't been there since I graduated from MSU in 1973. So here I come, not thinking ahead, and driving my 1982 White Nissan 280zx sports car. I wasn;t thinking about how much native Detroiters just "loved" foreign made cars. When I started working on the news, I found I could leave the station after the 6pm show and catch a few innings before I had to leave if I were doing the 11pm show. My first trip to the Stadium I realized that if I parked in the Stadium players lot, I would get blocked in and couldnt leave til the game was over. I backed out of the lot and saw a guy across the street motioning me over. He ran out onto Trumbull and led me to parking place in the back of a Michigan Ave bar. I gave the guy 20 bucks and told him I would be leaving after the seventh inning. Night after night, this guy--his name was Mopey--protected by "foreign" car from all domestic threats. Just trying to remember the name of the bar....was there a Howdy's around there? Anyway this site makes the memories really well up. Thanks |
Jman
Member
Username: Jman
Post Number: 86
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 6:13 am: | |
Could it be Hoot's? |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 1770
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 12:23 pm: | |
Do you still drive a rice-burner or have you become patriotic?  |
Craig
Member
Username: Craig
Post Number: 211
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 12:29 pm: | |
Forget "patriotic." How about just spending the money locally so everyone from guys on the line to engineers have a shot at feeding their kids. If you lived in Oregon would you wear Reebok? |
Southofeight
Member
Username: Southofeight
Post Number: 103
Registered: 07-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 12:53 pm: | |
How about busting your ass to make your money and spending it how you fit? Yes, I'm sympathetic to the local auto industry, but if I wanted a Daihatsu or Kia bad enough (I don't), I'd buy the goddamn thing and not feel guilty about it. And I shouldn't be subjected to some shitty vibe about it, either. It's my money, I'll do what I want with it.
Since when am I obligated to keep "the guys on the line" and their children fed? Or, as you mention, the engineers? Their ability to sustain their household is not my problem.
If the bills aren't getting paid at my house, I don't evoke the timeless, union-mandated bellyache of "woe is me, the locals aren't supporting my industry." I seek and obtain solutions to the problems rather than blame others who do not owe to me any financial obligation or loyalty because they live in the same region or state. That's the same worn-out logic that have rendered unions irrelevant, the whole unfounded sense of entitlement.
Can't feed your family? Budget your money better, or get a second job. Or try birth control.
Reebok sucks anyway. Buy American and rock a pair of Chucks. |
Sharms
Member
Username: Sharms
Post Number: 14
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 2:54 pm: | |
for what it's worth.....when the lease on the Nissan ran out...about five months after I moved to Detroit, I purchased a Detroit-made vehicle and have had them ever since. |
Emuaaron
Member
Username: Emuaaron
Post Number: 21
Registered: 07-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 3:15 pm: | |
"...the whole unfounded sense of entitlement."
I would call it taking care of your own, but whatever. |
Craig
Member
Username: Craig
Post Number: 213
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 6:03 pm: | |
So8 - Drive your Kia, but I promise that I won't pull over to help you when you're stranded on the side of the road with a flat. I believe that "taking care of your own" (thanks, EMU-A)is a priority, and so I'll save my hands and tools (Craftsman, made in USA) for someone driving a Detroit nameplate.
I see an entire region and way of life going into the tank, and I'm happy to reinvest in my community with my auto purchases (and others). |
Johnlodge
Member
Username: Johnlodge
Post Number: 1613
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 6:18 pm: | |
"Since when am I obligated to keep "the guys on the line" and their children fed? Or, as you mention, the engineers? Their ability to sustain their household is not my problem. "
Remind me to not have you as a neighbor.
When an honest, hard working person can no longer get a job in this country, because everything been shipped overseas to preserve your right to save 17 cents, we'll see how "worn-out" that spending your money locally logic is.
AMAZING to me that people don't stop to understand that how they spend their money actually affects them and their communities. So wrapped up in the "me me me me I can spend MY money how I want its MINE, I got mine F-YOU". If you can't see what direction that is taking us, you're blind. |
Craig
Member
Username: Craig
Post Number: 216
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Friday, August 10, 2007 - 7:45 am: | |
...but to be fair to So8, a person needs to be able to afford to pay more for a domestic or locally produced product. Thankfully, I'm blessed enough that price is hardly the consideration that it once was. I'm not certain what to tell the uneducated, low-income schlub buying imported junk at WalMart or the Kia lot: I would like for them to do their part, too, but can they afford the luxury of a 10 to 40% premium for "American?" |
Sstashmoo
Member
Username: Sstashmoo
Post Number: 240
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Saturday, August 11, 2007 - 10:24 am: | |
"woe is me, the locals aren't supporting my industry."
People don't buy your products, you go out of business. You lose jobs. Your job, more than likely is being supported by someone somewhere that thinks buying American is important. If you choose to disregard that, it's your choice.
I think some people just feel like all companies have millions in the bank by default no matter what and they are trying to keep it away from the employees at any cost. Everyone's paycheck in that organization comes from the customers that support it. No customers, no organization. It's that simple.
(Message edited by sstashmoo on August 11, 2007) |
Johnlodge
Member
Username: Johnlodge
Post Number: 1662
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, August 11, 2007 - 10:28 am: | |
"I would like for them to do their part, too, but can they afford the luxury of a 10 to 40% premium for "American?""
People could start by even looking to see where it's made. You might find you aren't paying much more, or any more at all. I don't think you can jump to the "paying more" argument, before addressing the fact that people don't even bother to look into it. |
Dds
Member
Username: Dds
Post Number: 314
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, August 11, 2007 - 11:50 am: | |
quote:Reebok sucks anyway. Buy American and rock a pair of Chucks.
Chucks haven't been made in US for at least 4-5 years, or whenever Nike bought out a bankrupt Converse and moved production overseas. Check out your Chucks. They don't say "Made in the USA" anymore unless you bought them pre-Nike days.
Looks like you better start looking for another pair of shoes. |