Another Rambling Blog About Nothing

I have decided to write one rambling blog about nothing every month. These impromptu writings won’t necessarily have a theme. They will mostly be about my observations of the world as I know it. I figure they will start about nothing but develop a topic as I skip my merry way through the field of my personal experiences and views of the world I encounter daily. Come and join me on another rambling blog about nothing.

An observation about empty car lots in another rambling blog about nothing

Has anyone else noticed all the empty car lots post covid lockdown? Here in our neck of the woods, we are flooded with used cars, but all the new cars are mysteriously missing. It’s not like I’m car shopping or anything. I see all the empty spaces as we drive past the dealerships along the highway.

This missing new car syndrome might be confined to our neck of the woods. If this is the case, it is ironic since our biggest industry is car manufacturing. We have six car plants in our small community. We used to have more before the car industry decided to move overseas—the people who live here farm or build cars. The rest of the businesses in the area depend on these industries to survive. In fact, in the early days of Covid, one of the abandoned plants was revived to manufacture ventilators. As soon as it was no longer politically expedient, this manufacturing facility shut down, and the people who went to work there ended up jobless again.

Reason for the shortage

My daughter works in a local car plant as a temporary worker. What this means is she works full time for them, but at their mercy.  She receives a lower wage and none of the job security or bonuses the full-time workers earn. There is no retirement package with this employment. This method is one of the ways the auto industry has developed to cut labor costs, but it is very demoralizing. She earned a bachelor’s degree after her children went to school. Unfortunately, a degree doesn’t earn you a decent living in my neck of the woods. Working in a car plant is your best bet at supporting a family.

My daughter claims the whole car scarcity is due to a shortage of electronic chips. Most of the auto workers are laid off. The only reason she is still working is that she is a temp. The ironic part of the equation is there is a plant here that stands empty. They manufactured those electronic chips before they closed. They could be up and running in a few weeks like they did when the ventilators were needed. China is a long way away. We need to bring some of this manufacturing home before shortages become a common occurrence.

Another rambling blog about nothing conclusion

I have to wonder why this car shortage is continuing. Is it because the government gives the industry incentives not to manufacture because they want a conversion to electric vehicles. I’m all for taking care of the environment. Rooster and I own three vehicles, all of which get over thirty miles per gallon. We use cloth shopping bags. We try to buy gently used items instead of new ones when we need something. The thing is, most people in America can’t afford an electric car. It looks like the working class will be walking before the situation is resolved.

Maybe China is simply holding us hostage. We need to stop buying so much stuff they make; most of it we don’t need anyway. My final thought is maybe none of us need a new car this year, but I would like to believe that my daughter will still have a job when all is said and done.

(Good news. By the time this post goes live, the car lots will start filling up again.)

Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

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