The truth is that you can find America in Wichita. That's what it's like -- like frontier - tales of a new land - freedom - and -fast cars - America, represented by a town in the middle of its very heart.
The first thing that hits you is that there are churches everywhere, and every other car has a religious bumper sticker. In the company parking lot, there are two pickup trucks that always park next to each other in the Plant 4 lot. One has a license plate that reads: "JESUS" the other, "SAVED"
The reason I said "Plant 4" and not just "the factory" is because Plant 4 is the most interesting place at the facility. There, they run the lines where the fuselages, bright green and heavy, meet their wings and become filled with various innards of tubing, wires, and pipes. When I first started, I would walk around there and watch people build these giant green machines. It is breathtaking.
After a few months, however, I learned to avoid the plants. Last time I asked a guy working on some landing gear what he was doing, he responded, curtly "fuck you salaried employees, none of your goddam business"
That was how I learned about the unionization of the workforce in America.
