<p>DMD you are absolutely right on that that their losses are no less real. It is beyond devastating, and I cannot imagine what my life would be like if everything was taken from me and I had to start completely over. For the first few days, many looked like they had been put under a spell, just blank, pitiful stares. But, in the last couple of days as more and more are placed in housing, they are becoming more upbeat. There are volunteers here working with people on resumes, there are companies holding job fairs, there are medical and dental clinics set up, the kids are going to school and getting back into a schedule. There are alot of positive things happening and people are trying to make something of this “new” life they have been thrust into. It is truly inspiring to see. On a side note, a dentist friend of mine who has been doing some work at one of the clinics says that some of these people have never seen a dentist in their lives and are so glad and appreciative to have some attention given to something that many of us take for granted. As much as we can give, we get back ten fold in good feelings.</p>
<p>An excellent post, Mootmom. Kudos. </p>
<hr>
<p>Do You Know What It Means to Lose New Orleans?</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/opinion/04rice.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/opinion/04rice.html</a></p>
<p>ag54–apparently some of these people did not get the memo from Mootmom that their lives are over and the only future is misery and the sense of loss. How she inferred so much from two sentences sort of escapes me but whatever.</p>
<p>“the issue–the fact that some very poor downtrodden people might actually have a second chance at a better life”</p>
<p>Barrons, explain to me how someone’s life is going to be better with people they cared about dead… there’s more to life than a nice place to live.</p>
<p>We all lose people we care about over time. That’s part of life. Also nobody said everyone would be better off–just that it is possible some will be. Not everyone lost family–many did not. I am certain that sudden loss of life was not a stranger to the homes of many prior to the storm. Most have dealt with it in the past and will again in the future. Most anyone my age has gotten that 3 am phone call that just can’t be good news.</p>
<p>Yes, most of us have lost people close and dear to us, but certainly not in quite that fashion. Nor in some cases, have most of us lost several friends, family, home, everything all at once. We have not witnessed the total devastation firsthand, nor experienced it.
Barbara and her son are not ignorant people, nor do I believe are they unfeeling. However, I do believe that they are so far removed from the abject poverty, daily hunger and hardships that the poor experience daily, that they cannot even BEGIN to comprehend what it’s like. That’s why they can make comments off the tops of their heads like that. I don’t think any less of them. They can’t help it.
This entire entry is probably riddled with grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors. I don’t care.
Xiggi - I admire your maturity and insight, and even hold you in a little awe. I’m so happy now that I’ve seen another side of you…petty and petulant in some ways. I still respect your points and your views, but now I know that you’re human (I’m really dumb to think that some kids could be nearly perfect).</p>
<p>Many of the evacuees, for example, those living paycheck-to-paycheck, have probably been looked down upon for much of their lives. Ignored by those who could help them, condemned for needing aid, condemned as little better than vagrants- you get the idea.</p>
<p>Now, they find themselves at the center of an avalanche of relief, as people across the country and even the world become concerned with their fates and try to help them. How could this help, in comparison with what they received before, not be a good thing?</p>
<p>What amazes me is that some of the well educated middle class types here can’t fathom that some poor folks would dare to look at a silver lining in the face of disaster. It’s like it is their duty to remain the suffering underclass so that you can have pity on them. I doubt they want your pity–just some help and a reason to be optimistic and go on.</p>
<p>A snippet out of the WSJ today
"Nicole Singleton smiled as she sat on a cot in the cavernous River Center digging through boxes of her six children’s belongings pulled from her flooded apartment.
What do I really need? she asked herself. She was about to board a flight to Minnesota and a new life. I don’t know a thing about Minn. says the 33 year old NO native who worked on and off steaming sheets and styling hair. There’s nothing here for me and this is my chance to start over again.</p>
<p>Her comment evokes the time her husband didn’t know what a scanner was in the supermarket. Anyone remember that? </p>
<p>They’re salt-o’-the-earth people, them Bushes, real ranchin’ folk.</p>
<p>They spent time in a small shotgun house in Midland Texas in their younger days trying to make it in the oil business. I dare say they know as much about how poor hardworking folks live as you.</p>
<p>Mootmom, thank you. And thank you Huntsman for the link. I had read part of the OpEd, but now have it all.</p>
<p>I was not particularly offended by Barbara Bush’s remarks, myself. I don’t think she intended any malice, and it sounds more maladroit than anything.</p>
<p>On the other hand, let’s not pretend she’s the grandmotherly type! She may look like the kindly little old lady, but she is the one in the family known for bad language (remember how many times she’s been quoted calling people names that I certainly don’t call people!), and she’s known for being impatient and difficult. Listen to the interviews with Laura Bush - even she jokes about her mother in law being the tough one in the family, definitely not the “nice” one. In fact, I think she is most like the son George; while I think George 1 is more like Jeb.</p>
<p>Hey, TheDad, Mini-- isn’t anybody going to mention that Barbara Bush went to Smith?!!</p>
<p>
I would be very much surprised if anyone did, as it never actually happened (see below). In reality, the story was written by a man who wasn’t there, expounding upon a three-word phrase in another reporter’s story. It wasn’t the supermarket scanner the then-President was amazed at, but a new technology he was being shown that could read damaged bar codes.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.snopes.com/history/american/bushscan.htm[/url]”>http://www.snopes.com/history/american/bushscan.htm</a></p>
<p>Indeed, as the very website you pointed out to us reveals: even the President’s press sec. confirmed that the President had been to a grocery store just the year before!! LOL Now, if I can convince my kids that I need to go to Costco only once a year!!!</p>
<p>Mom0809, I am happy you only called me petulant and petty. </p>
<p>While I do not make a habit to pick on someone’s poor spelling or deficient grammar, I found that this case was different. I admit that I was annoyed by the comment that was entirely malicious. Inasmuch as the comment made by Barbara Bush deserves criticism, it takes a stretch to describe her as an ignorant person. The poster who made the comment prefaced his (or her) comment with something to the effect that she was not a bad person nor uncaring, just ignorant. Well, ignorance takes many forms, and I picked on the fact that the self-anointed social commentator expressed himself rather poorly. I posted my terse line and moved on. People who live in glasshouses should not throw rocks! This had little to do with grammar. </p>
<p>I also admit that I am tired of the unending criticisms. In checking CC in the morning, I can count on reading a number of posts that will relay the perceived shortcomings of a few individuals. I wish we would forego the criticism for a few weeks, and spend the time and energy of chasing the culprits at a later date. In my eyes, the final analysis will reveal that it was the massive and collective ineptitude of a system that caused the delays in responding adequately. </p>
<p>However, I witness the great pleasure of many to hang on the lips of a chosen few and hope to catch the smallest faux pas. Oh yes, it was such a crime to call the evacuees “refugees”; it was such a crime for the President to fail to call the “tragic events” an unprecedented apocalypse; the schedule of Dick Cheney was also a subject of deep scrutiny, … and the list goes on.</p>
<p>However, I still feel that, regardless of how inappropriate her comment was, we ought to treat Mrs. Bush with a bit more respect, and for no other reason that because of her age. It takes great dedication to embark on a visit of an “evacuee” shelter. She could be at home and enjoy her grand and grand-grand children. There are people half her age who would not leave the comfort of their lazyboy chair, and prefer to throw their beercan at the TV set in outrage! Yet, Barbara Bush was EXPECTED to show up! </p>
<p>She did make a mistake, but this is a time to forgive people who have earned our respect and admiration for a long life of service to our country and fellow citizens.</p>
<p>“I am happy to only called me petulant and petty”. Got that edit in there pretty fast. Good work. You might want to work on that "people who live in house made of glass…(and not simply from a grammar perspective)</p>
<p>Bull, I was afraid that the sarcasm of posting a similar sentence would fly over your head. Funny how right I was!</p>
<p>Funny though, you had made the edit. I’ll see you, don’t have time for 1,138 posts. Have fun.</p>