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21 May 2009 6 Comments

Southfield and the Jeffries

Southfield and the Jeffries

So it looks like I won’t be making that trip home to Michigan that I thought I would this June, due to, how you say, irresolvable differences of contractual interpretation between myself and my employer. I’m tempted to give in to sentimentality here and list out all the things I really miss about home, but where would that get me? The places you dream about are also the places your nightmares come from, and so maybe I ought to reflect on that.

This is the Southfield-Jeffries Interchange, a monumental no-place that towers over the landscape, quite easily the tallest structure on the West Side. It has appeared in bad dreams more times than I can count. Details change, but most often, the interchange is completely filled with broken or unmoving cars and I find myself walking miserably up or down those tall arching, curving ramps. A meaningless series of dreams no doubt, and yet out of all the places and spaces I’ve inhabited around Detroit, it is that object that crops up most often in my imagination.

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6 Comments »

  • Aaminah said:

    Salaams.

    If it helps at all, Michigan is currently a mass of depression anyway due to the economy. It has made noticeable difference to how everything looks, and the sadness of the people is quickly giving way to hopelessness. Make du’a for us, inshaAllah, and perhaps when you do make it back it will be to something worth seeing. :)

  • Abul Layth said:

    Ya, I thought Indy had it bad, SubhanAllah, EliLilly is hiring more folks from Detroit than Obama is with his “stimulus” package. The D city is hurting for realz!

    Is your family from Yuperland?

  • Bin Gregory (author) said:

    Salams Aaminah – hope you’re making it through all right.

    I’m from Detroit, city of, but my parents moved out to the countryside near Flint to go into farming.

  • sabiwabi said:

    Oh, you used to be right across the pond from me (Lake Michigan), I’m from Milwaukee. Gotta love the Midwest. Don’t worry, Detroit will always be there…. it’s certainly one city that refuses to die. LOL

  • Aishah said:

    Asalaamu Alaikum

    I live across the border from Michigan in Ontario. I’m married to a Malaysian and we have 10 kids (2 from my previous marriage). I lived in Kelantan in 2000 for 4 months. I couldn’t stand it and came home. How do you stand to live in Malaysia? I think its easier for men. I saw an American guy living there and even though he was dirt poor he was happy as a clam.

  • bingregory said:

    wa alaykum salam!

    Mashallah, 10. You’ve got me beat sister. Where were you in Kelantan? And what didn’t you like about it? I like it here. The weather might be the hardest part to get used to, but after about 6 months, you sweat less. Really. I showered 5 times a day when I first arrived and sweated all night long. Now I sleep under a blanket. It is harder making a living here, especially for foreign men who have more visa problems, but I’ve found it to be worth it. Maybe the social life is more difficult for a foreign woman to adjust to? So do your children speak bahasa malaysia with their father? Oh and who is this American in Kelantan? There aren’t many of us – do you know if he’s still there?

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