by Phill Pappas
illustration by Chad Higgenbotham
During the summer of 2004, I had an eighty-nine day contract with Ford Motor Corp. My commute from Ann Arbor to The Rouge in Dearborn, Michigan began at 5:30 am. The effects of whatever I had been drinking and smoking the night before lingered as lightly as the Russian occupation of Berlin. I would speed down I-94 to the Schaffer road exit in my red, two-door Ford Escort off of two hours of sleep. My only thoughts during the drive were to stay awake and, at all costs, get to my station on the line by 6:00 am.
When the line started moving, you’d better be there or it meant a nice chat and a write-up from a foreman and a union rep. Most mornings I was so short on time I’d have to sprint from the employee parking lot to the shuttle that took me to the Dearborn Truck Plant where we made the 2004/2005 F-150s. The shuttle was a necessary evil…
Feed the good wolf... 