midnyte

The Hurricane.

When I first saw the devastation of that hurricane I was moved almost to tears for all of those people affected. I realized they really lost EVERYTHING. Their chances of getting a single solitary possession back is almost none, their homes, neighborhoods and modes of income are all gone. It took some time to wrap my brain around it. In a way I think it is kind of liberating, but it is devastating at the same time. Like BAM!! Youre at 0! Though of course they are not at 0, their debt and bank accounts are of course still there, but on the possession and job scale, they are at 0. Wow, try and imagine how that must feel.

Yesterday I watched those in the various domes and whatnot and listened to the horrific accounts of how people are raping children, shooting at rescuers and in general acting like crazed maniacs. I started thinking WHAT THE FUCK!!? I was thinking, I dont have a real job, I can go and help, maybe Ill volunteer to give aid. Then I suddenly came to my senses. The last thing they need over there is another body to deal with, feed and make room for. I have no business at all going there. I realized the residents of that city are not helpless victims, uneducated 3d world tribespeople, or animals. I cant do a single thing for them that they cant do for themselves if they take the initiative to do so. How is it with a 20,000 people in one place a hopefully small group were able to rape a 10 year old girl? How did the rest of the mob not kick those peoples asses and lock them someplace? How was this allowed to happen? What an amazing study on human behavior. I cant of course know without being there how I would react, but the complacency and violence and insanity really scared me, as did seeing how the US obviously has NO disaster plan for an event like this. I feel outrage about the people just sitting around letting stuff happen to them and I just dont understand and fear if this is human nature I really hope I never have to experience something like this. The thought of being caught up in something like this is very frightening to me. And the thought of being a passive victim upsets me.

Then as my faith in the human spirit was completely drained after listening to a first person account of violence, murder, rape and other insanity my faith was renewed when I saw the story of an 18 year old young man who commandeered a school bus and picked up other victims along the way and drove the bus to Houston. Good for him, he and those people have clean water, warm food and a sanitary bed to sleep in tonight because he had the presence of mind to not sit around and be a fucking victim. And on top of that, he had the decency to stop and help out others along the way. That is the strength of spirit I expect out of humanity and I was so sad to not see happening. Im glad that guy was out there and the news reported him. Sadly it has been the first story of heroism I have heard come from this awful tragedy. Everything else I hear is terrible.

Seriously though, none of these people are political prisoners, they are all still Americans, all still free to move around the country as they feel inclined to do, and all of those able bodied are free to try walking or swimming or whatever to get to safer ground, cleaner water and dry shelter. My 210 lb 2 pack a day smoking couch potato roommates car broke down and has a 4 week repair time on it. He has a job 26 miles away from the house. The job is not on any bus routs so he borrowed a bicycle from my brother and for the last 3 weeks has been riding the bicycle to work. It is summer in Phoenix with 109-112 degree temperatures, dust storms and thunder storms he has been riding through. That is strength of spirit. That is someone not sitting around whining about how he is too fat and it is too hot, it is someone suffering but doing what needs to be done. The first week he was so sore he could barely move, but now he looks so much healthier. He has lost about 20 lbs and a few pants sizes too. If his fat ass can do that there are plenty of other people who could try walking or wading out of their situations. So yeah, I am now officially a heartless bitch, but really, as they say, the lord helps those who help themselves. I still donated a bunch of money of course and know there are so many people who evacuated before the storm who still have nothing to go back to and I feel for all of them but wow, just wow about the anarchy.