Basic HTML Version
Pardonme, I didn't get that.
Wduthwotnjshgiosndiwgn.
Um, sorry, but I didn't get it that
time, either, could you repeat it?
Isdisntgwntarnnomobtsricld.
OK, I'm sure it's me, but just one
more time, I mean there is a lot of
noise in here and I just didn't hear
you. Did you say the lunch specials
have barbeque sauce on the chick-
en or……
Idnkwijscmtowktdy.
Um, OK then, maybe I'll just have
the tuna. Tuna sandwich? TUNA?
Like fish, tuna fish sandwich?
OK. OK. OK.
For the life of me, I cannot figure
out why I can't understand young
people any more. It's like English is
MY second language because they
are all speaking some other version
of the mother tongue…like, maybe
Urdu?
I asked the young lady at the tick-
et counter at a local theater for the
time the movie was over? She told
me the movie started at 1:45 p.m.
Yep, I know that, but what time is
themovieOVER?
“Stars a 1:45mam.”
Yes, I got that part. OK, what time
does the next movie in that theater
start?
“Whamovie yumen?”
I don't know, the next one in that
theater, number 14.
“Nexmovsat 4:15.”
The same movie I'm seeing? It's
going to last 31/2 hours?Really.
“Wha?”
How long is the movie I'm going
to see? How many hours and min-
uteswill I be sitting in there?
“Dunno. Thas $22.”
No, no, no. I just want to know
how long the movie is….can any-
body tellme that?
“S'on tha net. Uz yr phn.”
On the internet? I could look it
up on the internet on my flip phone
from1999?
“Ya, thas $22.”
Things went downhill from
there because I have less and less
patience the older I get and I seem
to be aging at an exponential rate
lately. Asking me to look something
up on the internet is akin to telling
me to translate it from the original
Latin.
Now, these young folks are not
new citizens, or folks who have
come here to start a new life with-
out the benefit of understanding or
speaking English. Those folks never
try my patience because I always
think about how poorly I would
function in their country…even if it
wereBritain.
Nope, these are young folks born
and bred right here in the US of A.
They speak a dialect called “young”
while I speak, well, whatever it is
old ladies speak. Evidently, achiev-
ing maturity takes all the energy
these young people have because
the effort to speak in complete sen-
tences or use entire words is simply
toomuch for them.
And I mean I try. I really do try to
understand them but most of the
time I end up nodding my head to
whatever they
say like some
large bobble-
head. After I
make them repeat whatever it was
they were trying to say about three
times and I still don't get it, I just
give up and agree with whatever it
is theymumble atme.
Reminds me of a favorite joke of
my beloved spouse about a man
concerned about his wife losing her
hearing. He decides to test it a bit as
he comes home from the office one
afternoon.
HUSBAND, at back door into
kitchen: Honey, I'mhome. What's for
dinner?
No answer from wife working at
stove.
HUSBAND going a bit further
into the kitchen and saying a little
louder: Honey, I'm home. What's for
dinner?
Still no response fromwife work-
ing at stove.
HUSBAND as he is almost with-
in arm's length of wife at stove and
is now shouting: Honey, I'm home.
WHAT'SFORDINNER?
WIFE: For the third damn time,
meat loaf.
I was reminded of that when that
tuna sandwich I ordered for lunch
came with mashed potatoes, gravy
and greenbeans.
A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
4
January 30, 2014
Trustee receives thanks
To the editor;
As part of her election platform
during her 2012 run for Van Buren
Township trustee, Regina (Reggie)
Miller pledged to give back to the
community by donating her salary
to a number of local community
organizations.
The Belleville Area Council for
the Arts (BACA) was one of the
organizations that Miller pledged
to help. Miller did indeed donate
one-quarter of her salary last year
to BACA and she continues to ful-
fill her pledge into the second year
of her tenure as BACA has recently
received another generous dona-
tion fromTrusteeMiller.
The board and membership of
the Belleville Area Council for the
Arts express their sincere gratitude
toTrusteeMiller for her generosity.
Belleville Area
Council for the Arts
Belleville
RomulusMayor LeRoyBurcroff deliveredhis first State of
the City address last week, just a little more than two months
after his election to the job.
Those in the audience during his presentation noted that
there was no prepared or printed copy of his address.
Burcroff spoke for about an hour fromsome notes and used a
power point presentation to touch on just about every topic
pertaining to the operation and future of the city.
He did an excellent job and returned repeatedly to the
two main themes he has consistently addressed in the com-
munity: public service andbusiness-like operations.
During his campaign for the job, Burcroff stressed his
belief that the city should be operated like a business and
that decisions about spending and finance be made with a
businesslike approach. During his address, he repeated that
philosophy and cited several examples of exactly that mind-
set.
“You can't just run a business by the seat of your pants, just
like you can't run government by the seat of your pants,”
Burcroff said. “We have a four-year termand have a five-year
plan…We'll have a strong budget projection as we move for-
ward.”
In addition, he said city officials are on pace to spend
about $1 million less than the amount budgeted for the cur-
rent fiscal year.
“That's pretty good,” he said. “That's the way you want to
run a business and theway to run city hall.”
We couldn't agreemore.
Burcroff and his department chiefs seem to have made
public service, that is genuine and real service to the resi-
dents and taxpayers of the city, their priority. They are
attempting to provide as much service in the most efficient
manner possible to their community while demanding that
courtesy, convenience and respect for the public are inherent
in all city departments.
The new mayor didn't make a huge announcement about
this attitude, and yet it was the subtext of nearly every sub-
ject he addressed in his speech. It was very clear to anyone
listening that this is a businessman, used to dealingwithdiffi-
cult situations andmaking difficult decisions, all whilemain-
taining a professional and polite attitude toward those with
whomhewas dealing.
We couldn't help but sense the genuine pride Burcroff
takes in his city. He was, after all, a long-time member of the
city council before becoming the chief executive officer, and
his respectful attitude regarding the people he works with in
city hall and the people of the community he serves was obvi-
ous. His address clearly demonstrated his priorities and his
expectations from those he has placed in positions of author-
ity andmanagement inhis administration.
It is very clear, already, in Burcroff's administration, that
those who do a good job will be recognized and rewarded
publicly. His regard for those who perform the actual tasks
that keep the city operating seems genuine and sincere.
We also can't help but comment on the absence of ego and
self-importance that often accompanies these addresses,
when some elected officials use the occasion to campaign for
re-election, heap praise on themselves for any progress in
the community andboast about their own accomplishments.
There was none of that self aggrandizement in Burcroff's
address. Rather, he spoke candidly about what he and the
others in city hall had tried to do in the last months and what
they planned to do in the future tomanage the city in the best
way possible for everyone involved.
We thinkhe's off to a great start.
You can't just run a business
by the seat of your pants, just like you can't run
government by the seat of your pants.
”
Romulus mayor sets right tone with annual address
Executive
candidates
stepping up
Letters
There is a pretty good chance
the next Wayne County Executive
will be fromWestland orBelleville.
Without the emergence of a
superhero declaring his or her
candidacy for the job within the
next 90 days, the new executive
will either be William Wild, the
current mayor of Westland or
Kevin McNamara, a Wayne County
commissioner who lives in
Belleville.
While neither of them would
acknowledge it, in these fledgling
days of the campaign, the two are
far more alike than they are differ-
ent.
This, we think, is going to be one
interesting campaign season par-
ticularly since we can't figure out
why anybody would even want this
job.
Right now, Wayne County is
about $225 million over budget,
with continued over-budget spend-
ing in the Wayne County
Prosecutors Office and the Wayne
County Sheriff's Office as these
departments continue to try to pro-
vide
necessary
services.
Decreased tax revenue doesn't
allow any decrease in crime, as the
case loads in these two offices
prove. In addition, the next execu-
tive is going to have to face the $300
million debacle that was the
planned new jail that has already
seen $100 million in construction
cost overruns.
Scandals regarding outrageous
retirement deals and severance
packages have plagued the office
and many employees and
appointees who served in current
Executive Bob Ficano's adminis-
tration are now sitting in prison. It
isn't a pretty picture.
But Wild, 45, who stepped into
the office of the mayor inWestland
about 6 years ago has some pretty
impressive accomplishments to
cite during his campaign. He can
talk about his deficit elimination
plan in Westland that took the 10th
largest city in the state from the
threat of running out of money by
2010 into financial security with a
$5 million surplus while not cut-
ting services. All of which is true,
as rare as that may be in political
campaigns these days.
McNamara's eventual candida-
cy for the job, held most famously
by his father years ago, was a fore-
gone conclusion for many political
watchers who felt he might be the
guy to solve the monumental coun-
ty problems, as his father was. A
Wayne County commissioner since
2006, he currently serves the com-
munities of Belleville, Huron
Township, Romulus, Sumpter
Township, Van Buren Township,
Wayne and a southern portion of
Westland on the Wayne County
Asking me to look something up on the internet is akin to
telling me to translate it from the original Latin.
”
Language of youth has left me way confused
See
Executive,
page 6