The Things We Did While You Were Gone
After the closing of coal mines in Carbondale, Ohio, there is no longer a railway going through town headed to deposit the toil of those who live here. Since the last coal mine closed more than fifty years ago, those buildings have long since rotted away or burnt down.
Now, as the generation that knew Carbondale as a coal town slowly fades away, a new generation is attempting to find their foothold and, sometimes, doing so with great difficulty. In a town where the median age is 26 and almost one-third of all individuals are below the poverty level, the youth of Carbondale struggle to create a vision of their future as well as, how to spend their present; boredom and, in turn, the dual threats of idle crime and drugs are ever-present. Despite the best efforts of parents, unemployment, disabilities, or drug abuse have effected almost everyone in one degree or another; With the issues of parents and grandparents often becoming the problems of this generation as well.
“The Things We Did While You Were Gone” is an essay about this generation. It’s a look at the aimlessness left in the wake of industry. It’s an essay but also a question: How do we build identity in a location whose own identity exists in name only? How do we build a future when we only have relics of the past to build upon?
After the closing of coal mines in Carbondale, Ohio, there is no longer a railway going through town headed to deposit the toil of those who live here. Since the last coal mine closed more than fifty years ago, those buildings have long since rotted away or burnt down.
Now, as the generation that knew Carbondale as a coal town slowly fades away, a new generation is attempting to find their foothold and, sometimes, doing so with great difficulty. In a town where the median age is 26 and almost one-third of all individuals are below the poverty level, the youth of Carbondale struggle to create a vision of their future as well as, how to spend their present; boredom and, in turn, the dual threats of idle crime and drugs are ever-present. Despite the best efforts of parents, unemployment, disabilities, or drug abuse have effected almost everyone in one degree or another; With the issues of parents and grandparents often becoming the problems of this generation as well.
“The Things We Did While You Were Gone” is an essay about this generation. It’s a look at the aimlessness left in the wake of industry. It’s an essay but also a question: How do we build identity in a location whose own identity exists in name only? How do we build a future when we only have relics of the past to build upon?