A sign of the times

[earthbelow]

Walking down Myrtle Avenue, within in a half mile stretch, I saw ten different stores that had gone out of business.

And a couple of weeks ago, while we were going to the pharmacy, we saw a store being backed up and closed because it, too, went out of business. It was a family business, and the woman who worked the counter was wiping down the windows for the last time and crying as we passed by. I didn't have to wonder what she was crying about.

Comments

[br0ken_dolly]

When I met my friend from the Detroit Science Center for coffee last week, we'd planned on meeting at a new coffee shop we'd met at just a few months ago. I got there early and realised the shop had closed up shop forever.

It's such a common occurrence out here: going out of business sales, boards on the windows, "For Lease" signs... the home foreclosure listings are printed monthly in something the size of a major city's weekday newspaper. Shelters are begging for help because people can't afford to keep their pets, or lose their homes and have to give up their pets. People are losing their jobs, going home, and committing suicide because they don't know what else to do.

It's depressing and heartbreaking.

We need change so desperately.