"A Six-Year-Old In The Body Of A Grown Man"

Today, for the first time in my life I enjoyed the writing of Mitch Albom. I grew up with Mitch as my local sports columnist. Sitting at the breakfast table, my seven-year-old self spilled Kellogg's Corn Flakes over his work in a show of literary criticism. For high school graduation I was given three Albom authored books including the luminary Tuesdays With Morrie. I read the first ten pages of each before deciding saccharine was best left for the furthest coves of my unbrushed teeth. 

But today, well today, Albom decided to write a column on the city of Detroit. BLAH!

There are three ways in which I enjoy reading. 1) Something luminary and earth shattering. 2) I respect and worship the high gloss prose or 3) It tugs at the nostalgic heart strings of familiarity. Yes. I liked Albom's column but I didn't like the column. I liked anecdotal mentions of Joe Dumars and Barry Sanders, citing of sights I'm familiar with, and the general fact that it took place in Detroit--my hometown. 

In his piece he tries to capture the essence of Detroit. Like most serious journalism he misses the mark as he attempts to put a straight face on the toothless grin that is Detroit. It is the same sort of presentation that pervades Clint Eastwood's latest film Gran Torino. I've read Updike, I know the beauty of decaying Rust Belt cities, but the romanticism of gritty people surviving the cold under delusions of God's love is offensively insipid. No person seeks to survive. Big banners are effective, especially in the interest of writing but I'd like to think that truth lies in the small interactions. The individual essence is the most marked and beautiful of all human traits, but it never comes out when forced. Put your shine on, throw that gel in your hair. You'll look great but that ain't you soldier and you know it. Essence comes in the way one attempts to take off a girl's belt, the sheepish way the present some achievement, or their strategic route of asking a favor. 

As the saying goes "if you've got it, flaunt it." Well, if you've got it you don't need to flaunt it. It's already there silly puss.