Citizens nationwide say they want to make the most of what little time remains, noting that the ailing manufacturing sector could go any day now.

WASHINGTON—Yearning for a chance to find some kind of closure and say goodbye, the U.S. populace told reporters this week that they longed for just one more day with the nation’s dying manufacturing sector.


Americans across the country confirmed that they had seen signs of the ailing sector’s decline in recent years and now felt a strong desire to be there in its final days, if only just to look on as the frail manufacturing industry sent a few last consumer products down the assembly line.

“The manufacturing sector used to be so active and healthy that I guess I thought it would always be there—but now, I’d give anything just to pay my last respects before it’s gone forever,” said Henry West of Canton, MA, who appeared visibly grief-stricken at the prospect of losing a sector that had been a constant presence in Americans’ lives for so long. “It’s been heart-wrenching to watch a beloved industry waste away to practically nothing. You can tell the manufacturing sector is really hurting.”


“And with all its plants, mills, and factories shutting down, it looks like it’s finally ready to pass on,” added West. “I just want to offer my support in these last few precious moments.”

The U.S. populace confirmed that they would always have fond recollections of the period in the 1940s and ’50s when the manufacturing industry was full of energy and vitality. However, the nation acknowledged that the sector had turned into a shell of its former self in the decades since, growing ever more feeble and significantly slowing down to the point where it could barely handle producing household appliances anymore.


Millions of Americans reportedly expressed their wish to turn the clock back for a final glimpse at “the good old days,” when the industry’s car assembly plants in Detroit were operating at full capacity with thousands of skilled laborers pouring into factory doors every morning. Others told reporters that just seeing smoke pouring out of a Pennsylvania steel mill’s flue one last time would be enough to remind them of how strong and vibrant the economic sector once was.

However, nearly all U.S. citizens admitted that this was only wishful thinking given the aging sector’s rapid downturn since 2007, saying they’d recently realized that all they could hope for was to have “a few nice moments” before the inevitable occurs.


“I have all these wonderful memories from back when the conveyor belts were constantly running, shifts were working around the clock, and it seemed like the manufacturing sector was just so full of life, but now, I can barely recognize it at all,” said Alison Panetta of Akron, OH, explaining that she now simply wanted to make sure she said her farewells on her own terms. “At this point, I’ve accepted that it isn’t going to get any better. I just want to enjoy what little time we still have left.”

“I made the mistake of not doing that with the family farming sector, and I’m not going to make it again,” Panetta added.


According to sources, many Americans admitted that they had been in denial for years about the manufacturing sector’s decline, and nearly all citizens expressed regret that they hadn’t stopped and truly cherished the plastics, transportation equipment, machinery, and electronics industries when they were in their prime.

“You look at the way it’s struggling with something as simple as textiles these days, and it seems like it could slip away at any minute,” said Kyle Dunham of Manassas, VA. “It’s so tough to see the manufacturing industry this way, especially knowing how much we all used to rely on it, but there’s just no getting around the harsh truth.”


“More than anything, I just hope the sector goes quickly,” Dunham added. “It’s time for the pain and suffering to end.”