VIDEO: Financial crisis hits home in Detroit

When asked how the financial crisis is affecting their everyday lives, Metro Detroiters were tight-lipped about their financial situations. Maybe it’s because money is a personal topic, or maybe there’s a social taboo about talking freely about your money problems to strangers.

But after spending the better part of Sunday at the Oakland Mall, the Star John R Movie Theatre and the Caribou Coffee in Royal Oak trying to get people to explain how the financial crisis is affecting them, directly — most declined comment.

One man I approached at the mall told me things were so bad for him in the wake of the economic crisis, he couldn’t even talk about it to anyone yet. Others confessed they didn’t know how it was affecting them but said they were worried about keeping their job.

Those more willing to share their stories and opinions offered a range of reasons why they believed the crisis unfolded and held no one person responsible or single reason to blame.

There was more uniform agreement, however, on the question of which presidential candidate could best handle the crisis.

Former State Rep. Mary Waters told me she was one of the people facing harder times. “There are no employers that are willing to give out raises so it makes it very difficult for people to make ends meet. I’m one of them,” Waters, the former 13th Congressional District candidate who ran unsuccessfully against Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, told Michigan Messenger.

Waters, in part, blamed Congress for not holding Bush’s feet to the fire on what she described as his misguided policies. “Even if you have George W. in Washington who has been allowed to make numerous decisions all by himself … you also have Congress and the U.S. Senate. There’s supposed to be checks and balances.”

Then there’s the rare few who are benefiting from the crisis.

Financial adviser Jauron Winston, who manages money for high-profile NFL stars, said he is having the best financial year ever. But he also noted that when it comes to market strength, everyone’s effected.

While many were not eager to talk about money as they normally are to discuss politics for similar Michigan Messenger reports, one thing was clear to me: Even if some were not feeling the grip of the economic crisis personally, everyone seemed more than aware that something feels terribly wrong.