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A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
6
January 24, 2013
Recently, a friend of mine who
shares some of the same com-
plaints about the aging of our per-
sonal infrastructures sent me a list
of anecdotes from those in our gen-
eration that has been culled from
the internet.
It has to be a compilation, I'm
sure, because no one could possi-
bly have had all these experiences,
although she sent it to me as
though it had all happened toher.
Seewhat you think.
One:
Recently, when I went to
McDonald's, I sawon themenu that
could order six, nine or 12 chicken
McNuggets.
I asked the perky teen clerk for
half a dozenMcNuggets.
“We don't have half dozen
nuggets,” said the exceptionally
well-cosmeticized child at the
counter.
“Youdon”t?” I replied.
“We only have six, nine, or 12,”
was the reply.
“So I can't order a half dozen
nuggets, but I can order six?”
“That's right.”
So I shookmy head and ordered
sixMcNuggets
(Unbelievable but sadly true . )
Must have been the same child I
asked for sweetener, and she said
they didn't have any, only Splenda
and sugar.
Two:
I was checking out at the local
Wal-Mart with just a few items and
the lady behind me put her things
on the belt close to mine. I picked
up one of those ‘dividers’ that they
keep by the cash register and
placed it between our things so
theywouldn't getmixed.
After the girl had scanned all of
my items, she picked up the
'divider', looking it all over for the
bar code so she could scan it.
Not finding the bar code, she
said to me, “Do you know how
much this is?”
I said. “I've
changed my
mind; I don't
think I'll buy
that today.'
She said “OK,”' and I paid her
formy things and left.
She had no clue as to what had
just happened.
(But the lady behind me had a
big smirk onher face as I left.)
Three:
A woman at work was seen put-
ting a credit card into her floppy
drive and pulling it out very quick-
ly.
When I inquired as to what she
was doing, she said she was shop-
ping on the Internet and they kept
asking for a credit card number, so
shewas using theATM 'thingy.'
(Keep shuddering.)
Four:
I recently saw a distraught
young lady weeping beside her car.
“Do you need some help?” I asked.
She replied, “I knew I should have
replaced the battery to this remote
door unlocker. Now I can't get into
my car.
“Do you think they (pointing to a
distant convenience store) would
have a battery to fit this?”
“Hmmm, I don't know. Do you
have an alarm, too?” I asked.
“No, just this remote thingy,” she
answered, handing it and the car
There is, we are firmly convinced, no such thing as a time
machine.
The ongoing circus surrounding water meters and fees in
Inkster has gone from the ridiculous to the absurd and now
time travel, according to one city councilman, is not only pos-
sible, but a reality.
Imagine the conceit of claiming that a newly-installed,
coaxial water meter can go back in time and determine how
much water was used in a home three months, six months,
even a year prior to the installation of the device. How is that
possible?
Simple. It isn't. There is no technology in this 21st century
that can record the use of water before the meter was
installed. It is a scientific and technological impossibility.
City officials in Inkster, however, continue to assert that
there is some logic in that claim of time travel to defend the
outrageous and unrealistic bills some residents have been
receiving. We cannot imagine the shock of any average home-
owner receiving a three-month water bill for more than
$6,000, nor canwe believe that water in an Inkster home for a
three-month period can possibly cost $1,200, $1,000 or $2,400.
Apparently, however, city officials have no problem defend-
ing these atrocious and reprehensible amounts. They not
only defend them, they have threatened to put these outra-
geous amounts on the homeowners' taxes, subjecting them to
foreclosure if they do not pay thesehallucinatory amounts.
Residents who have asked for some help in the situation,
some accountability for such amounts, have been told that
“you probably have a leak” and to get “someone out to look at
it.” What they don't get is any recognition that the bill could
be an error. Officials steadfastly maintain that these ludi-
crous amountsmust be paid .
These astronomical bills beganwith the installation of $2.5
million worth of newwater meters in the city, meters the city
officials made mandatory, without offering homeowners the
opportunity to opt out of the machines which send reports
and data back to the water department for automatic billing,
eliminating several city jobs. Such an opt-out policy is now
mandatory but these meters were installed before that legis-
lationswas enacted.
Now, we're told, those residents who have refused to have
the new meters, or time machines, installed in their homes
are having their water shut off at the street by the city. This is
not governance or management. This is the tactic of bullies
and dictators who have no regard for the rights of the very
peoplewho elected or hired them.
Inkster was more than $5 million in debt to the Detroit
Water andSewerageDepartment when the decision to install
the new meters was made. How could a $5 million unpaid
bill go unnoticed by the people responsible for managing the
city finances?How could themembers of the city council, the
mayor and the hired city department heads be unaware of an
unpaid debt of this size? Ah, wait, it was one of the former
department heads who kept it all a secret from them, or so
many of themhave claimed.
If that is the level of responsibility with which they
approach their position as a city official, they do not under-
stand their job.
Currently, Inkster is reportedly more than $10 million in
debt and has signed an agreement with the state to follow a
plan to reduce that and get on sound financial ground during
the next three years. If not, the state may send in an emer-
gency financial manager for the city, something the elected
officials are solidly against.
City officials have attempted to cut the budget by reducing
the police department staffing by more than half, demanding
wage concessions from union employees and eliminating
some other city positions.
Apparently, putting the debt on the backs of unionworkers
and city employees wasn't enough and now the decision has
beenmade to put the bulk of this burden on the water bills of
residents and homeowners, whose only culpability in the sit-
uation ismaking thewrong choices in the voting booth.
We find it difficult to believe that the citizens have to file a
class action lawsuit to find redress in this matter. If the state
can fund an emergency financial manager for the city, it
should certainly be able to fund an investigation by the state
attorney general into these uxorious, punitive charges and
these jackboot tactics by thosewho have attempted to impose
anddefend them.
This is the tactic of bullies and dictators
who have no regard for the rights of the
very people who elected or hired them.
”
Despite claims, water meters are not time machines
Honors
are well
deserved
When we first learned about
John Glenn High School history
teacher Michele Anderson being
selected as Teacher of the Year by
the Veterans of Foreign Wars, we
thought it was an indication that
finally, teachers were being appre-
ciated a littlemore.
Thenwe read the details.
Anderson involved her history
students in a project to find veter-
ans of World War II and videotape
their recollections of the war, of
the time, of the real history of the
world-changing events they wit-
nessed and were part of. She sent
the students to find women, too,
who were defense workers in war
time plants and record their first
person recollections and memo-
ries of the impact of the war on
their lives and those of their chil-
dren and families.
We think this project deserves
all the accolades that are available
and thenmore.
For years, we have felt that the
real history of America is being
lost. Sometimes the loss is due to
academics or historians jumping
to erroneous conclusions or politi-
cal “recollections” which have
very little to do with reality and a
great deal to do with preserving
reputations and legacies.
The real history of this time in
America is with those men and
women who lived through it. It is
their recollections, their memories
of the horrors of that war, and the
joy of that era, that we need to pre-
serve as judiciously as we guard
Fort Knox.
Here, in their memories, is the
reality of what happened, of the
real day-to-day struggles and suc-
cesses, along with the errors and
heartbreak. These men and
women endured and survived a
time we only know through the
imagination of movie directors and
novelists.
The heroism of these men and
women is unquestioned. They
lived through a time of such hard-
ship and sacrifice and ascribed to
a sense of honor and duty, of
responsibility and patriotism, that
is foreign tomost of us today.
To have the opportunity to hear
them talk about what they
endured, about their lives and
their service is a treasure beyond
price. Thanks to this program of
Anderson's, many of their verbal
historieswill be saved for posterity.
This programprotected the past
and helped the students who
I knew I should have replaced
the battery to this
remote door unlocker.
Now I can't get into my car.
”
The dumbing down of America is real
See
Project,
page 7
See
Dumb,
page 7