Andrea Wilson Woods' Blog

During my three visits to Detroit, where my husband has been working on the television show Detroit 1-8-7, I have encountered many friendly folks. My mother has said from the time I could speak that I never met a stranger. My ability to talk to anyone has allowed me the privilege of meeting some interesting people over the years although my habit of speaking to strangers used to annoy my sister Adrienne. Why do you talk to everybody she would ask. You don’t even know those people. However, her complaints never stopped me from chatting with salespeople, drivers, or anyone else who seemed amusing.

What Adrienne didn’t understand was if I was talking to people, I was in a “good” place. With the exception of one person, I met all of these men during my visit last month, which tells me I am letting down my guard, coming out of hibernation, and joining the world again. If I had stayed underground, I would have missed the opportunity to know them. From youngest to oldest, meet the biker, the musician, and the driver.

Marcus the Jamaican Biker
I met Marcus at the Detroit Institute of Art (DIA), one of my favorite places in Detroit. He is completing an internship at the DIA as part of his undergraduate education, which includes architecture and business classes. A first-generation American, Marcus moved from Florida to Detroit in order to attend school. He intrigued me with good looks and easygoing nature, but he also educated me on what it means to be Jamaican. For example, when I complained about the cold weather and how the heat in my rental SUV (GMC Acadia) didn’t seem to work, he said I know what you mean; I ride my bike every day.
“As in bicycle?” I asked. He nodded as if riding a bicycle in the snow was the most common thing in the world. When he made a joke about being Jamaican that I didn’t get, I asked him to explain.
“In Jamaica,” he said, “you’re expected to have four jobs by the time you’re 12. Otherwise you’re lazy. You work hard. Everyone works hard. I only have one job besides this one [internship] and school so I can’t complain about riding my bike. Besides, it’s not so bad.”
Wow. Even though I have always been a hard worker, I owned a car at Marcus’s age (approximately 20), and I would never ride a bike in the snow. Then again, I’m not Jamaican.

Eugene the Nice Musician
Of all of the cool D-dudes, Eugene is the only man I met last year, and he is the closest to my age. I went out to Tallulahs with my husband’s coworker’s girlfriend—a girl’s night-out gone wrong. I like Nadia, but I spent the first hour with her standing on my feet and nodding my head as I listened to her tell me her entire life story. To be fair, I was in my Funky Fall Blues phase. However, once we sat at the bar, Nadia turned her attention to a man, and I was off the hook, which is how I met Eugene. He happened to be standing next to me.
Eugene gives off a “Nice, harmless, well-mannered” vibe. As soon as he said hello, I knew he wasn’t going to act inappropriate. (Sometimes, a wedding ring presents a challenge to the opposite sex.) Soon, we were immersed in conversation where we discovered we had many things in common. Eugene is a teacher; he showed me the Silly Bandz on his wrist that his students had given him. I laughed as I attempted to figure out the shape of each band, and I found it charming that he wore them in public. Eugene is also a musician with his own company Telepathic 3-D Productions.
When Eugene asked me about my plans for the next day, I told him that I was going to the DIA. I was looking forward to it because I didn’t get to see it during my first visit to the city the previous month. Imagine my surprise when Eugene said, “I work there tomorrow night. I help with the Drop-In Workshops. We’re making sugar skulls for Día de Los Muertos. Day—”
I interrupted him, “Day of the Dead.”
He laughed. “Yes. Oh, of course, you know what it means. You live in Los Angeles.” I didn’t tell him how much the holiday reminds me of Adrienne. “You should come by and make a sugar skull,” he said.
Although I opted not to make a sugar skull, I did contact Eugene the next day when I arrived at the museum. I saw him and his friend Charles supervise the children in the workshop. Eugene gave me tips on specific exhibits, got me a huge discount at the gift shop, and showed me the Diego Rivera mural, which I had somehow missed. Being the perfect gentleman, he walked me to my car. Besides being a nice, polite, intelligent, Midwestern guy who owns his own home and makes a decent living, he gives tours of Detroit. If you are interested, email him and use me as a reference.

Dana the Dynamic Driver
I met Driver Dana at the end of my trip. A kind, large man with a warm smile, Driver Dana works for Thrifty car rental, and he drove me to the Detroit airport. Since only he and I were in the shuttle, I started talking to him. I told him how much I liked the name Dana for a man.
“Really?” he asked as if I wasn’t being sincere.
“Sure,” I said, “It’s just like Tracy or Kelley. Gender neutral. Cool and interesting.”
“Well, I’m actually two out of four.”
“What?” From there, he explained that he was named after his godfather Dana, but then his godfather named his son Dana. Okay, three. Then Driver Dana named his son Dana. Four.
“And you all hang out together?” I asked.
“Yep,” he smiled as he turned into the airport.
“How do you, ya know, tell each other apart when saying someone’s name?”
“Oh,” he laughed, “I’m Little Dana, and he’s Big Dana.” Somehow I knew he meant Big Dana was his godfather, but I wanted to ask if his son was Little Dana Jr. And what about Big Dana’s son, Dana? Was he Big Dana II? And why, did a man who seemed so unsure about his name choose the same one for his son who must feel lost in the sea of Danas? In that family, Dana might as well be Chris.
Driver Dana and I talked about other subjects including the dreadful demise and hopeful resurrection of Detroit. He watches Detroit 1-8-7 and he thought it was cool that my husband works on the show. He laughed about my “Detroit jacket” and my plan to stuff it in my suitcase as soon as I got inside. As we said goodbye, he added, “You tell your husband he has a sweet wife.” Will do, Little Dana.

As the first three of the five cool Detroit dudes, Marcus, Eugene, and Dana are under 50 years old and part of the Millennial or Gen X generations respectively.
During the next installment of Five Cool Dudes from Detroit: Part Two—the king and the volunteer, you will meet two older men from the Baby Boom and Silent generations who express their passion for art in different ways.

AWW — XoXo

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