An Interview With a Relative

Welcome to the blue collar city of Buffalo, New York. I find myself in my great Uncle Wills old brick home in the place of Stabooh Buffalo. The house has the familiar smell of old people, in the foyer are a pair of work boots the leather old and worn, the soles nearly depleted. A layer of dust has formed on the boots that have remained untouched for decades. As I move closer to the kitchen I can hear the recognizable extend of stainless steel clinking on ceramic, the rhythmic noise can only be one thing Uncle Wills stirring his ever so present cup of joe.I know this interview is going to take a bit so I head to the fridge to find a cold beverage. Inside the fridge, prune juice I thought ugh, tap water will do. My Uncle begins by interviewing me. Uncle Will is curious to know how Im doing in school and if I like living in Kansas. We talk about family, cars and pets(he has a very fat cat). I dont motive this interview to be formal and stiff so I casually guide the conversation to h is earlier years. I want to want him about WWII precisely this is not what I want to focus on.I do ask about his service in the United States Army ripe to get an imagination of how his time in the army prepared him for entering the job market. In his tour of duty he saw himself promoted three times, level(p)tually to the rank of police captain and led a company of 60 men. This is all I want to know of his brief military service. I ask about his homecoming and the front thing he mentions is the excellent growth the delivery in Buffalo has made, it was as if the depression never happened he says with a half smile and a look of satisfaction.The best thing is not only was the city of Buffalo prospering the entire nation from the Atlantic to the Pacific was too. I sit ease and attentive just letting him talk. Its like a history lecture only its just me front and center, completely interested in the subject. I want to know more about Buffalo and the jobs available to him so I im plore. You could just see the smiles on everyones establishments, people base on balls with a bounce in their step he tells me. The reason for the smiling faces was that Buffalo was home to Bethlehem make the second largest steel producer in the nation.Bethlehem Steel employed tens of thousands of the citys people they offered good wages and a unionized work force, these things unploughed the grins ear to ear. The steel was mainly sent to Detroit to can the auto industries record sales. The primary means to transport the steel was the railroad and this is where Uncle Will found his calling. He was hired for the job almost immediately. His time ahead(p) troops in combat made him the top choice for the conductor position. Old Will describes his new job as Love at initiative sight.Will adored the sound of the methodic turning of the locomotives wheels, the hustle and bustle of the train yard and the fact that he had the privilege to literally drive the economy in a 200 ton, 7000 horsepower machine. The most efficient means of transportation, steel on steel, he says proudly. He now commanded trains with at least sixty box cars just like the company of soldiers he led just a short while ago. Uncle Will informs me that though the job often kept him away a lot with trips to Chicago and other mid-western cities he was proud to be transporting the materials to help the U.S prosper. He coveted every moment he spent with his locomotive the diesel powered Dual-Service Erie-Built Train Master, I called her Audrey after Audrey Hepburn, they showed her movies to us in the service Uncle Will laughs as he finishes his statement. Audrey was navigating her way through the extensive network of railways across the country and with that even I feel a bit of admiration of the industry. His devotion to the train industry is fascinating. I ask him to tell me more about his duties as a conductor. The conductor has the duty of accelerating, breaking, changing tracks and supervisi ng the crew, pretty important, he adds with a chuckle. His days on the maneuver of the locomotive began to blur together days became months and months turned to years plainly he says every time I pushed the accelerator I calm had that cunt bump sensation I felt the first time I pushed her to full speed. Buffalo was still enjoying economic growth through the sixties still thriving on Americas appetite for steel.In the late sixties as my Uncle explained he noticed a potpourri, less noise at the rail yard the sound of wheels turning was less prevalent the methodic rhythm slowing spile just like buffalos economy. Everyone could sense the change and the smiles began to fade. I want to know the reason for this change in demand. Uncle Will proclaimed with anger in his voice Foreign steel was being import from places like China and Korea. It was much cheaper and industry wants to save money. The lack of demand for Buffalos number one export closed the doors of Bethlehem and Republi c Steel. molarity lost their jobs. You could call this moment in time the death of our city he adds. This was and is the beginning of the continual decline of the Queen City. Uncle Will was right unemployment range were 6% and today is 9. 6% according to the New York State Department of Labor (www. labor. state. ny. us). This downturn affected all subsequent history. Unemployment caused crime rates to rise, do drugs use was rampant on the east side of town and it was spreading at a rapid rate.Today buffalo is littered with abandoned homes even ornate Roman Catholic churches have seen their doors and windowpanes boarded up. The city as I knew it was gone with these words I hear a solemn sigh. I precious this interview to be about how the railroad industry affected his life however by the way it started I should have known the interview was just a means for Uncle Will to tell me about the city he watched grow to greatness and the sadness it brings him to watch its decline.I peer out the window there is a light blanket of snow covering the concrete and the small bush he has in his front yard. It looks pretty and peaceful solely looks can be deceiving. Uncle Will mentions that even in his neighborhood crime was creeping in the house just two doors down was burglarized just a week ago he proclaims with a deep sadness in his eyes. I look closer at Uncle Williams face tired and worn like the work boots in the front hall, his soul wearing away.This man has done so much in his life he volunteered when his country needed him and guided trains on the veins of Buffalo, pumping its blood of steel around the fledging nation. Without sadness there cannot be joy and without depression there cannot be growth. regrettably this weary old man is still sitting in his old red recliner coffee cup in hand staring out the window at the city streets once home to the laughter of playing children now quiet and desolate. He says Id leave this place but there are too many memories in this old house, too many memories in this old city.