Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Basketball, guns, rabbits and moving vans

I had to highlight this anonymous comment from a reader because it sums up a lot of conversations I've had with people when they discover I'm from Flint. I'm sure many expatriates have had a similar experience:

"I remember in the '70s it was, 'Oh Flint, that's where all the great basketball players are from.' And then in the '80s it was, 'Flint!? Do you own a gun? Have you ever seen somebody shot?' And then in the '90s it was, 'Flint? Do you know the Rabbit Lady?' And then I moved...."







6 comments:

  1. The Rabbit Lady was way ahead of her time... how little we knew.
    Nothing is more hip than "local food", "sustainability" is the meme of the moment, and if she feeds them organic kibble, she's hit the trifecta. Still love this site.

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  2. All I get from people is, "You're from Flint? {gasp}."

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  3. Betsy,

    You're right. She was so far ahead of the curve. I wonder if she's still in business. I know she was in a low-budget documentary that attacked Michael Moore a few years back.

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  4. G.W.--what's the name of the documentary that 'Bunny" was in? mebbe we can book it for a special showing in Traverse City...is it banned in Flint too?

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  5. EXACTLY... I have heard EVERY SINGLE one of those questions.... My responses were (like everyone else)

    "No I have never eaten rabbit or known anyone else in the city of Flint who has."

    "No we don't own a gun but we lock our door and our car."

    "It's not so bad, really kind of fun actually."

    What else is there to say?

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  6. My favorite response was, "Oh, I'm so sorry," as thought I had said I had cancer.

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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.