Last night was the last night of Back to the Bricks! We took our '80 Camaro, '59 Cadillac, and great friends out for the evening, and definitely had a lovely time.
Well, except for one small detail.
We had pulled into a parking lot and were preparing to get out of the car when a pleasant young lady came over to us and asked through the window if we were getting out of the car. Upon telling her that we indeed were, she advised us not to. Apparently, there had been some sort of shooting.
Before anyone assumes the worst, allow me to reassure you that no such thing occurred. Police were EVERYWHERE for every night of Back to the Bricks. Pulling a gun would have been virtually impossible. Though there was no shooting, there were rumors of a bomb threat, which I suppose some could argue is worse.
Fortunately, no bomb went off! Nothing bad really happened at all, except clearing off Saginaw Street (and I did hear about a riot at one point.)
One could definitely say that B2tB went out with a bang. (Okay, I'm sorry, I just had to.)
I say all of that to say this: it's remarkably easy to look at Flint in this horrible, grey, pessimistic sort of light. But if you can see past it... Well, there's nothing better. Like the lady who warned us about not getting out of the car, or the people of Flint who actually didn't kill each other! This sounds absurd, but I'm so proud that we managed to get through a 5-day event without having some hugely publicized, horrific downtown murder.
There's a quote I found on pinterest some time ago that I can't help but think of whenever someone talks bad about this city. "I live in a city that everyone claims to hate, but no one seems to leave."
It's about time people stop hating, or start leaving, because a place like this is too unique and lovely to complain about for the rest of one's life.
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