I worked for Ford from 1999 to 2006. Starting at 19. People thought I had it made, retire at 49, live the good life. I thought that too, until one chance discussion during a union meeting. I worked at the Chicago Stamping Plant in Ford Heights, Illinois. My folks work there still with 30 years plus seniority. Anyways, I would normally sleep during the meetings and this was around the time they canned the Taurus for awhile. We were to build the Freestyle and the 500 Hundred while in Mexico, they were making the Fusion. This is where people miss the forest for the trees. We were due to get a lot of overtime due to the ramp up of these two new cars. I asked a question. Why are we getting these cars while the Fusion will be made in Mexico? The Union rep said that we, with all that we make, insurance, pensions, whatever...we cost about $80 an hour while the workers in Mexico are $3. It doesn't matter if the numbers were correct or not, just the sheer difference woke me the fukk up. I go home that night, look at what the company was projected for sales. The Fusion was the star in the news clippings, the cars we were making were to have barely modest sales. The writing was on the wall. I worked nights at that time. I woke up, started researching colleges and enrolled in one on the spot. My ex-wife was like, why are you doing this, you are making so much money. I simply said, the bottom is going to fall out because the writing is definitely on the wall. This isn't even something you have to pay attention to, its bright as fukk, neon lights. This was 2004. After two years of school, entering my junior year in college, Ford offered buyouts to leave. I took my educational buyout, they paid off my junior and senior year. After I got my bachelors, quickly dove back into school to get my MBA. I was not going to bullshyt with that.