Flying back...home?

I wish NWA had inflight internet like every other airline. Everyone asks me why I do not fly Virgin from Seattle, well these people must only travel from Seattle to NYC and Cali or something because the cities I generally have to go to for work - Detroit, Orlando, Atlanta, Dallas, San Antonio, Denver and Vegas (does Virgin go to Vegas?) do not use Virgin. I like my Alaska MVP Status too much to go lose miles to it from another airline. Plus I am always on the Gold cusp and cannot afford to lose even just a few hundred miles (last year I made Gold by 200 miles.) Alaska has me for awhile, but the downfall of Alaska is flying Northwest Airlines to Detroit. Though, the CSA gate agent - who recognized me from flying so much - told me in a few months most NWA planes should be equipped. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Oh, I am on my flight right now. I am not sure where we are, but I have about 2 hours and few minutes before we land, which is about the halfway mark. I tweeted this before we took off, but seriously, my plane smells like baby vomit and weed. Weird. The do not put air on when the plane in loading and unloading so it was super hot while we were waiting there. I am sure people were sweating and that is where the smell came from.

I have been in Detroit for 17 days. That is crazy. This time it was a bit different. I still do not live there, but I was OK with coming back. Maybe it is because I am not stuck somewhere in between, but I am an actual visitor. Also, I actually took some time off from work! I have not really had any vacation time since I started at my company. I have taken a day off here and there but that was all comp time that I picked up working weekends, which most trade shows start on a Sunday so every time I work a trade show I usually pick up 2 days.
Anyway, I am excited to go back to Seattle, to sleep in my own bed, to see my friends, to not live out of a suitcase.

So, this is weird, and I never expected to feel that way. Sometimes I feel almost guilty for leaving Detroit. I feel people like me, and some of my friends, could have stayed and created something amazing. Some people are sticking around and doing just that. Not to mention, we'd all be living in crazy nice houses that we bought for super cheap. Seriously, the housing market is horrible there. There are houses in my mom's neighborhood that are selling for $165,000, $175,000 and just four years ago they were in the $300,000 levels. It is sad really, but for someone like me, it would be an awesome opportunity to pick up some prime real estate.

OK, so besides the selfish aspect of it, I feel like Detroit is going to come back, going to come back strong and in a way I want to be a part of it. Michigan is bad, and it's sad, and people have the "Michigan Syndrome" which is to talk shit about the economy, talk about no jobs, and just lose hope. I feel people like me, and friends of mine, and others, could come in, bring back what we learned living in Seattle, Austin, San Fran, LA, NYC, Chicago and apply it to Detroit. Detroit, especially the downtown area, has beautiful architecture. These buildings are going to waste and not being used. Also, we have amazing sports teams that are downtown, let's capitalize on this! More people need to go downtown, to move downtown. Even though I hate hate hate snow, I'd consider moving back to Detroit if it ever became a "real city."

I need to think about this some more, gather and collect my thoughts and present them in a better manner when I actually have a viable plan.

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