katrina is killing me
i can't read the stories without breaking down.
in between, i get so angry with all of the macho, law-and-order, "zero tolerance" posture many people (not just W, but also regular citizens who should know better, like some of the people with whom i work) are taking on looting, as if they would not do exactly the same thing if it were them in those circumstances.
on 9/11, i had turned on the "today" show between the first and second plane hits on the wtc, while i innocently made peanut butter pancakes for a still-sleeping justin. when the second plane hit, i sat down on the couch and barely moved for three days. i would not allow anyone to turn off the tv. i did not sleep. i learned a lesson about how much i could handle without jeopardizing my mental health from that experience, and that knowledge along with the need to sustain the tadpole has kept me moving this time. but i can't help but click over to cnn.com every half hour or so, to see how much worse things have become. every new heartbreak breaks a little more of my heart, too.
justin made a contribution to the relief effort the other day through the american friends service committee, but i feel like i should do more. i wish i could put up some people in our back house - there's just the little problem of getting them from the gulf coast to the north coast.
i feel so helpless.
*****
in a few hours i will head over to my brother-in-law's wedding rehearsal. after the dinner, i will leave the house to justin, his brother and his dad for some pre-wedding male bonding while i spend the night with justin's grandmother. tomorrow, she and i will paint each other's toenails and i will chauffer her to the wedding, after which the reception promises to go late into the night. on sunday, i'll run justin to the airport and pick up my incoming family, and at some point i'll need to wash all the sheets and get all the beds re-made for them, and it's going to be a non-stop weekend, so i probably won't have a chance to post until next week, and i definitely will not get to read my favorite blogs until then, which is a little disconcerting because i'm already a few days behind on many of them. i will miss my bloggy friends but i will catch up with all of you next week. until then, everyone be happy.
in between, i get so angry with all of the macho, law-and-order, "zero tolerance" posture many people (not just W, but also regular citizens who should know better, like some of the people with whom i work) are taking on looting, as if they would not do exactly the same thing if it were them in those circumstances.
on 9/11, i had turned on the "today" show between the first and second plane hits on the wtc, while i innocently made peanut butter pancakes for a still-sleeping justin. when the second plane hit, i sat down on the couch and barely moved for three days. i would not allow anyone to turn off the tv. i did not sleep. i learned a lesson about how much i could handle without jeopardizing my mental health from that experience, and that knowledge along with the need to sustain the tadpole has kept me moving this time. but i can't help but click over to cnn.com every half hour or so, to see how much worse things have become. every new heartbreak breaks a little more of my heart, too.
justin made a contribution to the relief effort the other day through the american friends service committee, but i feel like i should do more. i wish i could put up some people in our back house - there's just the little problem of getting them from the gulf coast to the north coast.
i feel so helpless.
*****
in a few hours i will head over to my brother-in-law's wedding rehearsal. after the dinner, i will leave the house to justin, his brother and his dad for some pre-wedding male bonding while i spend the night with justin's grandmother. tomorrow, she and i will paint each other's toenails and i will chauffer her to the wedding, after which the reception promises to go late into the night. on sunday, i'll run justin to the airport and pick up my incoming family, and at some point i'll need to wash all the sheets and get all the beds re-made for them, and it's going to be a non-stop weekend, so i probably won't have a chance to post until next week, and i definitely will not get to read my favorite blogs until then, which is a little disconcerting because i'm already a few days behind on many of them. i will miss my bloggy friends but i will catch up with all of you next week. until then, everyone be happy.
posted by laura at 12:44 PM
4 Comments:
Okay, so here's the thing about New Orleans that most people, unless they have lived there, don't know... The people who live in areas of the city that are the gang-ridden spots, kill each other everyday for almost no reason. Literally, there are more killings in that city everyday than there are in Iraq. Those people kill each other on a regular basis for no reason on a good day. Now, they are hungry, tired and homeless, do you think they would hesitate to kill for no reason now? The looting going on is a double-edged sword. Looting goes on in that city everytime there is a storm or Mardi Gras shut downs. It happens regularly. The looting going on now is either mom's tryng to get diapers and formula and losers trying to haul off 15 pairs of shoes and a TV. There are also professional looters who come from other towns just for the looting. The lawlessness is what it is. It's not surprising given the mentality that already exists there. Shame on W and the stupid governor of Louisiana for not predicting it and preparing for it the way the mayor tried to tell them. Many of us knew this would be the result. The people who have guns or other weapons who are trying to protect their families and whatever they have left have every right to do that. People are getting carjacked for bottles of water and a can of gas. If they are lucky, they don't lose their lives in the process. Local gun stores have been lotted and all the weapons and ammunition taken. Taken by the very same thus who have no conscience, who don't care who they hurt and have little regard for human life. My parents are preparing to make the daunting journey back to their house. They are taken guns. They have no choice. Our governement needs to get things under control by whatever means possible. If that means that thugs with guns who are shooting at resuce helicopters get shot and killed, then, so be it. I wouldn't be so adamant about any of this if I didn't have first hand accounts of what it going on. I talked to a friend just yesterday who is a commercial boat captain and has lost everything he owns because of the storm. he has spent the last few days driving a boat from place to place trying to get people to safety. I have talked to many others as well. the news reports things the way they want it reported. They spin it all the way they want. The truth is the truth and I know first hand what that truth is.
I hope you get lost in the joy and love and family and the week goes by fast because it's so much fun but not so fast that it's over too soon until you can update again.
I kind of like the crazy busy feeling, if only for the relief and putting-up of feet that comes after.
Lyrael!!! Labor?!?! Off to read...!
Laura & Justin...I hope you're having a good weekend.
The news about Katrina has affected me in a very similar way. Although I rarely watch much TV normally, the set was barely off last week. I just kept flipping from one newscast to another (we don't have cable, so we're relegated to PBS and the major Canadian and U.S. commercial networks). I feel so frustrated that I can't do more at the moment, but maybe as time goes on an opportunity to do so will become obvious.
I hope you both had a great time at the wedding and are enjoying being surrounded by family right now.
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