Pollution

Phase one of the new job started today. That means I start driving. For me, driving is liberating. I've spent way too many years locked inside a cube. Driving sets me free.

One of my sites is an hour away. I drive from the north side of the city, thru the city, over to the south side. Once you pass by the tall buildings, theaters and stadiums, you see what I consider the motor city. The burned out houses and vacant churches. The industry. The pollution. The real Detroit.

As a kid I often drove over this bridge. My grandparents lived on this side of the bridge. Us on the other. The smell driving over was toxic, especially to a four year old. I remember one time stealing an air freshener from my grandmothers home and tucking it under the drivers seat. When we got to the stinky part of the bridge I reached under the seat, found the air freshener and put my nose to the fake rose scented plastic applicator in an attempt to mask the awful polluted smell of industry.

I wonder if my grandmother ever missed that air freshener I stole from her.