It means I have a great excuse when my parents try and pursuade me to move back to Janesville during every phone call. I can now say "No way, the local economy is terrible. That would be financially stupid!" That will only work for 8-10 years though.

exresident, point well taken. As far as ignorant perception goes, you're talking to the wrong person. I've done the GM thing. In many cases I agree that the perception is unwarranted. At the same time, many of the opinions are fairly accurate. If you read my past posts, I'll be the first person to own up to my shortcomings and the many ways I'm fallen. Ignorance goes hand in hand with foolish pride. Wisdom goes hand in hand with humility, something I'm working on getting better at everyday. We all should. I appreciate your post and as I said, I see your point and I should've worded it better. You see, we never stop learning! God bless you.

(darius~) Obviously you didn't understand the topic - it was asking to leave a comment about how the GM closing will change people's lives. I didn't say it was unwelcomed change, I simply told it like it was. We all have free will and ultimately make our own decisions. One of our decisions was to leave Janesville for better opportunities and after reading your comment, it reminds me of the ignorant perception about GM that runs throughout the Janesville community.

exresident~ It's called "change". GM doesn't force a person to move or start over as you say. WE DO IT TO OURSELVES! People at the plant have something special, just like anyone else... and it's called freewill and this country has something called free enterprise as well. Everyone has the same opportunity as the next person to dig their well before they're thirsty! The problem is too many people following the wrong leadership which has lead them down a road they're not prepared to deal with. It's time to deal with it. Too much victim mentality in society today!

It means moving away from where you lived for most of your life. Leaving your friends and family. Pulling your kids out of good schools. Selling your house and losing money on your house. Leaving everything you're use to. Having that "lost" feeling. Having to start completely over and restablishing everything in a new community. It means starting a new job with a new company. Having to put in years of work to get vacation time. Being at the bottom and having to start over again. Waking up in the morning in a new community asking yourself...how long will it be before this feels like home? Whether people decide to stay or go it will affect them in different ways. It's bittersweet either way.

From Olive Garden to ramon noodles in a few weeks flat. From Sentry to Aldi. From a nice pickup to a used POS gas miser. From going to the doctor when ever we're sick to crossing our fingers we don't get sick at all. From saving money to watching it dwindle away. So far we have been able to keep our house and our pets, so it could be worse.

If I could leave a message, my message would be that I have met so many wonderful people along my way. All the people that have helped Janesville in so many different way's that at time's, I don't feel that Janesville is aware of all the kind thing's that these people have done!!!!!!!!!!!!! I only wish them happiness and peace!! I know time's will be tough, because I have seen tough time's before I started there. They will have to learn how to live a new life and it may be difficult, but you will survive, because no matter how difficult thing's can and will get, you will get through it. We all will be okay!!!

My husband has been an employee of GM at the Janesville plant since he was 18 yrs old. He is gonna stick with the company until their is no company. This whole GM situation has brought about lots of debate. It isn't up for debate with me. We are looking out for whats best for our family. GM has been good to our family. We know that changes are ahead but we say bring it on! Our economy will improve and the car companies will survive. We are Americans and we should be happy that we live as good as we do. We should be thankful. We wish everyone the best.

This has been a blessing in disguise for me personally. I've been so blinded by the almighty dollar that I've lost touch with what's most important to me. MY FAMILY. If I could go back in time and do things differently, I would. I don't regret anything, I will certainly learn from the experience. I will never trade my time for money again if it means compromising my that time with my family that I'll never get back again.