cabaretic

One gets used to tornadoes here. Usually they follow incredibly, sometimes depressingly similar paths. Certain parts of the Metro area get routinely slammed over and over and over again and for some reason these places always are peopled by poor white people. Such people stubbornly rebuild homes, schools, businesses, and purchase new mobile homes, only to find them destroyed again within a year or two. There's a certain kind of futility in this dogged refusal to face the facts, but one doesn't ask questions of those who don't bother to listen.

I don't live in these places and I never have. I suppose I have a different attitude towards tornado season. It's easy to be cavalier about severe storms when they never touch down anywhere remotely near you. It wasn't until my neighborhood was directly targeted by the radar system of the local meteorology staff that I began to realize heading downward into a part of the residence without windows and away from doors was probably a very good idea. Nervously I watched the twister pass by overhead without touching down. Within ten minutes, the all clear had been sounded and I could resume my weekend rest.

40 miles away, however, others were not so lucky. The tornado touched down, felling trees and destroying homes. Yet again, the victims were poor white people in a small town setting. Same as it ever will be.