WOMC Dream Cruise

[dial-it-in]

I'm not a big fan of the cruises but I also dont get the intense hate for them. Its a just a bunch of cars driving around and people socializing and watching them. So what?
So its not your cup of tea. Lots of folks love it. I'm not one of them but its no big deal to me if they do. Whatever floats your boat. Its harmless.

[Mega Hertz]

Look, man. I sit in enough traffic as it is. I don't need the help lol

The cruise will always hold a special place for me; it was the first event I did when I got my internship. LONG day but so fun.

Now that I'm a crochety old fuck, I just avoid it. You can have it and you can love it, I don't have the patience anymore.

Seems to be a lost art. I don't like it and you do, you do it and I stay away. Who knew?

[Colonel Flagg]

The dream cruise is stupid. A bunch of people sitting in chairs watching cars drive down the street.

This comment should be framed and hung up on every wall in Metro Detroit.

The only thing wrong with that theory is that many of those "walls" were financed and paid for by the very same industry and culture you're condemning and making fun of, but nice try.

It's much more than just sitting in chairs and watching cars. It's about the memories, the friendships, the culture, and the good fortune we had to live in those times.

If Grand Rapids held an annual "Furniture Festival" I wouldn't think of going there, "sitting on the davenport" and saying "Furniture is stupid. I hate furniture, and all of the whittling rubes who build it" (Is there any furniture made in GR anymore? I don't even know...)

[MWmetalhead]

No one hates the classic cars or the people who built them. Just the whole idea of watching cars drive down the street for hours seems super boring to me. If I worked in the auto industry 50 or 60 years ago, I might feel differently.

The inbred losers who bring their super loud exhaust shitboxes from the 70s and 80s or lifted pickup trucks with straight-piped exhaust do annoy me, and frankly those vehicles are completely out of place alongside the classy cars from the 60s and earlier.

Oh, if GR had a furniture festival along the lines of what you described, where people spend hours looking at pieces of classic furniture, I'd be the first to call it idiotic. There is still a decent amount of commercial furniture made in and around GR, despite the fact a ton of Steelcase production was moved to Mexico in the 90s and 00s. There is no household furniture mass produced in West Michigan anymore.

[Bobbert]

I can't speak for the Woodward or Gratiot or other cruises.
But as far as the Telegraph and Fort Street Cruises, I think you may be missing the point.

See the big camper set up, people grilling, folks just talking to each other?
Good chance it's literally a yearly family reunion. All kidding aside.

For many sitting around at a cruise, they couldn't tell you the difference between a 1968 Buick Skylark and a 1972 Dodge Challenger. It's not what they are there for. Unless some car does a burnout or gets pulled over by the cops, many are not even paying attention to what's going on the pavement. What you are seeing is friends and family using the cruise as a reason to get together and laugh and talk and catch up and stuff like that.

I've never gone because of the crowds, but like you say it creates a nice group setting for people who like that, like the fireworks. The news coverage helps lighten up the news, too.

[radiofann]

No one hates the classic cars or the people who built them. Just the whole idea of watching cars drive down the street for hours seems super boring to me. If I worked in the auto industry 50 or 60 years ago, I might feel differently.

The inbred losers who bring their super loud exhaust shitboxes from the 70s and 80s or lifted pickup trucks with straight-piped exhaust do annoy me, and frankly those vehicles are completely out of place alongside the classy cars from the 60s and earlier.

Oh, if GR had a furniture festival along the lines of what you described, where people spend hours looking at pieces of classic furniture, I'd be the first to call it idiotic. There is still a decent amount of commercial furniture made in and around GR, despite the fact a ton of Steelcase production was moved to Mexico in the 90s and 00s. There is no household furniture mass produced in West Michigan anymore.

Everyone’s got their likes and non-likes and whatever’s.

Some people go for Comic-con or Star Trek or Star Wars toy figure conventions, or Furry Conventions.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... Beach.html

I used to follow sports, college and pros. Never got the tailgate party fever. Isn’t that kind of like gathering for a cruise?

I thought sports talk radio was great when it came on in Detroit in 1994, but it degraded into useless guy talk when the local teams sucked and the hosts hadn’t the interest to follow national sports closely.

College sports now have NIL revenue for the players, so what’s the difference between college b-ball or football and the pros?
Do the players getting big bucks share them equally with their non-NIL recipient teammates (aligned with equity?)


To each their own I guess.

[radiofann]

I will say Grand Rapids area has pulled a lot of residents over there from SE michigan, so congrats to Meier headquarters, steelcase, spectrum health and the other core businesses. And may someday a great car cruise develop for east belt line. There’s been so much developed there over 30 years. I’m in downriver and wish we could generate a small piece of that growth.

[MWmetalhead]

GR, Kentwood and Wyoming have had a dream cruise knock off along 28th St for a good 15+ years. They call it the Metro Cruise.

Sections of 28th St these days look no better than sections of Eight Mile Rd thru Detroit, Warrentucky and Hazeltucky.

Very big sections of Kentwood and Wyoming have turned into run down wastelands because so many good middle class paying jobs have left, primarily from GM, its suppliers and Steelcase. This has also shrunk the tax base sharply. Multiple public school districts in Wyoming and Kentwood are as bad or nearly as bad as Detroit with regard to standardized test scores. The local media like to turn a blind eye to that fact.

Compounding matters, the city of Wyoming has completely mismanaged urban planning for most of the past 25 years.

The "growth" in Wyoming's population is mostly from Mexican immigrants + low income folks who have been priced out of Grand Rapids. Grand Rapids' population over the past 20 years has been nearly flat, but income demographics have improved as more young professionals have decided to locate there. Surrounding townships have seen some population growth certainly.

[armchair pd]

I know people will disagree with me here, but if you need to carry a gun or rev your car’s engine to feel like a big man, you either have no penis or a very little penis.

I work downtown Detroit, so I carry for protection.

I can also confirm it does nothing for penis growth.

[Dan in Northville]

I know people will disagree with me here, but if you need to carry a gun or rev your car’s engine to feel like a big man, you either have no penis or a very little penis.

I work downtown Detroit, so I carry for protection.

I can also confirm it does nothing for penis growth.

(Memo to self........................cancel worthless CCW application)