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09/14/2005
Manning the pumps
The night before I left for a visit to my parents, Paul told me that the state police were collecting donations for those affected by hurricane Katrina — clothing, toiletries, and baby gear. Shortly before I went to bed, then, I crept into Charlie's room and began rummaging through his closet and his dresser, collecting the outgrown items I'd planned to donate locally.
Though I tried to be quiet, he stirred, and I froze: he's been teething, and getting him to sleep has required great effort and patience. If he woke, I knew I'd be screwed.
For a moment I resolved to leave his room, and then I remembered what I was doing. And then I felt a surge of self-disgust so powerful that I actually did a little dance of agony. A city is underwater. Thousands of people are homeless. We don't know how many have died. Yet there I was, worrying that I might be inconvenienced.
Many of you have asked about my family. I am so grateful for your concern. I'm relieved to report that everyone I know was lucky. They were only inconvenienced. They've had to leave their homes, and for a few, the date of their return and the status of their property are uncertain. But they all got out early and unharmed.
My aunt lives in a suburb of New Orleans and routinely leaves town when storms threaten. This time as usual, she evacuated to my grandparents' house in north Louisiana, where she is most welcome but not always ideally comfortable. After a week there she needed a break, so we all convened at my parents'.
We don't know what's happened to her house. Though it's unlikely that there was any significant flooding, wind damage, downed trees, broken windows, and lawlessness are still of some concern. "It's just stuff," she and my mother reassured each other, and in her case that is true. It's just a house.
But it's much easier for me to focus on the specific and the personal — to think about the stuff, to obsess about the details, to worry about whether her refrigerator will have to be junked outright — than it is to take in the enormity of the general. If I think for long about what's been lost, not only life but a way of life, I get a little crazy.
Here is an example of my focus. I tried to help my aunt apply for assistance from FEMA, specifically the $2000 promised to people who were displaced by the storm to supplement their living expenses while away from home. Two weeks after the storm hit land — remember this, two weeks — here is what we experienced:
- Wait times on the phone in excess of half an hour
- An impossibly broken Web site
- Operators who could tell us nothing about the criteria for getting assistance
- Random hang-ups while holding for an operator
- A bored operator finally telling us only after the holding and the hangups that the FEMA help line, where one manages an application for assistance, would be down for 24 to 72 hours.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is our emergency management system, not even in the heat of the crisis but two weeks afterward. Not even in an unexpected calamity, but one we saw coming. "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees," indeed.
Jesus gay, I don't even know where to start. Maybe the details are worth obsessing about after all.
Okay.
Okay.
I usually confine my expressions of scorn for our political leaders to the occasional sly aside. And I usually confine my posts here to topics related to infertility, pregnancy, and parenthood. The fact that it's now all intertwined, that I find it difficult to separate my apprehension at how rickety this hellbound handbasket really is from my hopes and fears for Charlie, makes it harder to keep things light.
Two things made me stop watching hurricane coverage on TV. One was the sight of a young mother, fretting that her 7-week-old baby, formerly active and alert, was now listless and didn't wake up much. Another was the report that at the height of the crisis, premature babies were not being evacuated from hospitals — hospitals which would soon be out of water and power — because it was judged too dangerous.
On September 1, on ABC's Good Morning America, President Bush admonished Diane Sawyer that there is a time for politics, and that this isn't it. I disagree. I believe that when the alarming weaknesses of our federal emergency system have been exposed; when it's revealed that the aid Louisiana requested for shoring up its flood defenses was denied in favor of funding the war in Iraq and homeland security; when the head of FEMA, the unqualified beneficiary of a patronage appointment, is not immediately fired or removed from natural disaster duty but instead simply removed from managing this hurricane; when the wife of one former president and the mother of the current one is so profoundly out of touch that she asserts that forcible relocation is "working very well" for some of the poor who've lost everything; when our current president waits two days after Katrina hit land before deciding to cut short his five-week vacation — well, is there a better time to get politically galvanized?
But sputtering rage, I must remind myself, is ultimately unproductive. We can help in concrete ways. Natalee has set up a site organizing donations to evacuees in Dallas. Cooper and Emily have created the Katrina Clearinghouse to help match donors with specific families in need. And of course there are the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, and many other worthy organizations distributing aid.
There is also, thank God, the March of Dimes, whose president sent this e-mail:
This special email is sent to update our volunteers, donors and friends on how we are responding to the crisis. Your continued support is critical at this time to allow us to continue to support infants and pregnant women in need:
- March of Dimes specialists are assisting with direct service and support for over 100 sick and premature babies who were transferred to Women's Hospital in Baton Rouge.
- March of Dimes is currently working to obtain much-needed clothing and other supplies for displaced pregnant women and babies in the Gulf Coast area ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.
- Our staff is also working to ensure that those Katrina survivors who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or are parents of newborn babies, receive essential information on nutrition, safe water, safe preparation of formula and the signs and symptoms of premature labor.
- The March of Dimes is gearing up to provide even more urgently needed services over the next 3 to 12 months as the number of premature births is expected to rise along the Gulf Coast due to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Those premature babies are the ones who were initially left behind. Some got out in helicopters, until the shooting began. Some got out in boats. Some had to leave in canoes.
Later, I heard that they're safe, thanks to the tireless care of doctors and nurses who "were using hand pumps to keep blood circulating in babies too small for their hearts to do the job alone."
I recognize that it's self-indulgent for me to write about how this affects me, given the fact that I'm not there and my loved ones are all unharmed. It's easy to imagine Charlie in the place of those tidefaring babies, and to cry as I think of the parents who evacuated not knowing where or in what condition they'd next find their isoletted child, but I fight my own eagerness to identify. It's not us. It's not about us. It's awful enough on its own without my putting us there.
If only I could help it.
Posted by Julie at 03:00 PM in Mama drama | Permalink
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Comments (57)
I think we all wish we could help more. I am glad your family is safe. Thank you for the links, I found them very useful.
Posted by: Carrie at Sep 14, 2005 3:09:25 PM
Julie~ I think only the mother of a preemie, who has experienced the extreme and lightning fast highs and lows of a NICU stay can fully understand and comprehend the depths of panic those mothers and fathers went through. It was all I could do to watch the stories on the babies and know that all their mothers were so far away, without being able to reach them, worried sick. It really made me physically ill. I too, sputter with rage when I begin to consider the enormity of the failure there. Politically and otherwise. It's bigger than I can wrap my brain around.
Posted by: Brandee at Sep 14, 2005 3:31:39 PM
I don't know how any mother could look at the faces of those children and not see her own child. For that matter, I'm flabbergasted that any human being could look at the people of the Gulf Coast and not see a sister, a parent, a brother, a child or a spouse. It's beyond me. I think most people with even a drop of humanity are enraged, and I hope that maybe something good comes out of that rage.
Thank you for those links and for letting people know how they can help.
Posted by: Tina at Sep 14, 2005 3:52:15 PM
I've only delurked to post here a couple of times. I, too, am from Louisiana (Baton Rouge). We missed you while you were gone, but I figured that you were here in Louisiana. Julie, my son was released from Woman's Hospital only 3 weeks before the hurricane, after spending 2 months there due to complications from an early birth (33 weeks). His twin sister spent 2.5 weeks there. I spoke to his primary NICU nurse by phone a couple of times and brought all my kids' preemie clothes up there that they had outgrown. They were so completely overwhelmed. My sister is the nurse manager of the Mother/Baby unit at Woman's, as well, and there wasn't a day during the ordeal that she didn't come home crying over someone's plight. I went back today to return my rented breast pump and brought some cookies I had baked for them. She said it is still crazy. I know at one time, they had in excess of 100 babies in the NICU. I shudder to think if my Brayden had still been there with all that chaos--I would have been beyond neurotic. They are doing such a fabulous job in the face of this adversity. I was glued to the t.v. for a week, and nothing affected me the way it did when they would do a story on the NICU babies. It just hits home. I'm glad your family is safe. I am actually a Republican, but couldn't agree more with your post and your view on our government. They failed us miserably.
Posted by: Amy at Sep 14, 2005 3:57:04 PM
Julie, I love you.
Posted by: MelanieTM at Sep 14, 2005 3:57:15 PM
Julie,
While I may not agree with your politics, I appreciate the candor with which you have stated your opinion and the fact that you have presented options for people to help, as well as acknowledging that "sputtering rage" doesn't help anyone.
But Barbara Bush is getting more than a little senile, I think. Maybe her pearls are too tight?
That being said, I'm glad your family is okay!
Posted by: Pam at Sep 14, 2005 4:06:25 PM
Julie-
Thank you so much for posting the link to my site. I just wanted the readers to know (which they can also find on my site) that I will be taking donations down this Sunday. I will let you and the rest of the internets know what happened upon my return. I am so relieved to also hear that your family is well. I was never more happy than when I heard that Michael Brown resigned. I guess "Brownie" wasn't doing such a good job after all, was he W.? I am even more thoroughly disgusted with the government and this administration than I was before. Anyway, thanks again for the linkage!
Posted by: Natalee at Sep 14, 2005 4:09:19 PM
ALL levels of government failed. Starting with the CITY of New Orleans (democrat, black mayor). Then heading up to the STATE government (democrat, woman governor). Then the FEDERAL government (republican, white president). The president stepped up to accept responsibility, to my knowledge, the others have not.
I, too, live in Louisiana. It's not only the poor black people who lost in this storm. It's also the middle class, working families in some of the nicer areas. Did they get out safe? Yes. Are their lives/memorabilia/everything they worked for damaged? Yes. They lost too. And since they weren't on federal assistance before, they're having a darn hard time getting it now. Welfare checks can be delivered anywhere in the USA. People already on public assistance need only apply elsewhere to receive it. The people I feel the worst for are the people who worked, and scrimped, and saved, and built up their lives - and are losing them. These people are my friends, my co-workers. But you know what? They have positive attitudes, and the same spirit that made them get where they were before, will get them right back to their standard of living. Because they will do for themselves. Not wait for someone else to do something for them.
Lest you all think that I am a complete bitch (I'm 32 wks preggo and I AM a bitch these days), I will tell you that I've already loaded up 3 vanloads of my own stuff and brought it to shelters. I got a specific list of needs and went shopping for those requested items. I've donated a refrigerator so that pet vaccines can be kept cool. I am not a callous person. But I am getting sick of the whining and the blame game all going at the feds. There was a levee problem LONG before George Bush came to town. And that's all I have to say about that.
Julie - I'm glad your family is safe. It sounds like they have the same spirit and mentality that most of my friends in the area have. They feel lucky to be alive and safe and are just waiting for the opportunity to rebuild. I hope that when they get back, the damage won't be too great.
I weep for New Orleans.
Posted by: Kay at Sep 14, 2005 4:21:32 PM
Julie - I'm glad your family is all ok. I cannot imagine the worry of having family down there.
I agree - Barbara Bush has apparently lost her ever-loving mind. I had to listen to the clip a couple of times to believe she (or ANYONE) would think or say something like that. It stuns me to the core.
I agree the federal agencies are screwed up, and didn't respond fast enough and STILL may not be doing a good job (ex. the FEMA stuff you mention about trying to help your aunt)...did any of you see this interview of Blanco on CNN? I don't see many people putting any blame on her shoulders, though apparently she did earn her fair share...
http://wizbangblog.com/archives/007077.php
Posted by: VHMPrincess at Sep 14, 2005 4:23:42 PM
Very well said Julie. I completely agree with you. I mean, how can we not be angry? Isn't it our right, our duty to demand accountability from a goverment (at ALL levels) that failed its people?
I am glad to know your family is OK.
Posted by: Libby at Sep 14, 2005 4:30:07 PM
Wow. You once again managed to articulate my feelings on the matter so much better than I would have. A wonderful post.
Posted by: chasmyn at Sep 14, 2005 4:31:33 PM
While I may not have specifically stated it in my comment, I, too, believe it was ALL levels of our government--not just federal.
Kay--you made great points. My husband's ENTIRE family (3 brothers, sister-in-law, mother, grandmother (100 years old), nieces and nephews) have all been displaced and are scattered across the southeast. They were all working, contributing members of society (okay, not his 100 year old grandmother) who now have no homes, jobs, and memories to return to. We have some of them living with us. They have been fortunate enough, however, to get the $2000.00 from FEMA. A small amount, considering they have to completely rebuild their lives now.
Posted by: amy at Sep 14, 2005 4:41:31 PM
I wish I could take a five-week vacation, but I guess my job is more important to me than W's is to him.
So, so frustrating.
Posted by: DoctorMama at Sep 14, 2005 4:49:14 PM
From The Department of Homeland Security's website:
In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort. The new Department will also prioritize the important issue of citizen preparedness. Educating America's families on how best to prepare their homes for a disaster and tips for citizens on how to respond in a crisis will be given special attention at DHS.
Posted by: suburban misfit at Sep 14, 2005 4:59:11 PM
Of course it's not about us individually, but that's how we process things, how our brains work. By imagining ourselves in the situation. It's called empathy.
I think that's one reason that Bush etal are so clueless. They have no imagination, no empathy. Because they've been so privileged and have no way of imagining that anything bad could ever, ever happen to THEM.
Posted by: liz at Sep 14, 2005 5:17:04 PM
When then started sending survivors here, I started volunteering at shelters. When the smaller shelters ran out of places, I opened up my home to nearly 40 people... three of them have become a part of our family now and will be in our home for the next couple of months. For anyone helping in ANY way... whether it's a beautifully written blog post urging others to pitch or whether you have two little survivors sleeping in a pack n play in your guest room, you get a big high five from me.
FEMA BLOWS! Call closer to 2 am and you WILL get through, if you turn the volume on your phone up loud enough the voice of the snarky operator will wake you up after you have fallen asleep on hold.
Posted by: KellyGreenT at Sep 14, 2005 5:45:55 PM
HI! Me again! Just wanted to let everyone know that I have updated the blog, b/c I just spoke w/the volunteer co-ordinator where I'll be taking my donations in Dallas, and she emphasized the need for household items, especially AIR MATTRESSES, because they are now moving people from the shelters and into apartments/homes. If you are donating locally, you might want to think about adding these items to your lists. Thanks again!
Nat
Posted by: Natalee at Sep 14, 2005 6:00:34 PM
Kudos to you for vocalizing your thoughts and experiences, and for the links. I am glad your family is safe. I was in tears over the NICU babies. Totally heartwrenching, and I'm not even in the affected area. As always, I appreciate how very well you've stated your opinions.
Posted by: Tonya at Sep 14, 2005 6:19:22 PM
Some firefighters from my area were all pumped up to go down and help. They just returned, very disheartened, because the job they were given? Hand out fliers.
Posted by: Jill at Sep 14, 2005 6:54:19 PM
It can't be helped. For whatever your personal reasons, being the parent of a premature infant, knowing poverty or knowing racism those are people on the tv, they are terrified and hurting and they are human. It's impossible not to be alarmed and outraged. There is no ducking, unless of course you're in a position of power.
Posted by: wavery at Sep 14, 2005 6:55:47 PM
Julie - well said - couldn't have said it better myself. I must also comment on Kay's remark. To assume that people who are on welfare are not hardworking and are just sitting around waiting to be helped feels like a personal slap in the face. I grew up on welfare - my father (a wealthy man) left when I was 3. My mother with only a high school diploma and no extended family, was left to pick up the pieces, feed, clothe, and provide safety for four children under the age of 5. After finally getting a job, and working FULL TIME to support us, we were STILL below the poverty line and living "off of the government". There is a saying - Poverty is hereditary. It is very heard to break the cycle without help. I was lucky and had a teacher who took me under her wing.
I won't judge you for growing up in a nice middle class household with a happy extended family; don't judge me for being a welfare child. Bottom line is EVERYONE in this situation is hurting. To feel more for those who "worked hard" and not for those who you perceive as not "working hard" is callous.
Posted by: Julie at Sep 14, 2005 8:00:01 PM
I just want to respond to Kay's comment. I empathize with everyone who lost their livelihoods and homes and family members in the storm and maybe have slightly less pity for the very rich, but only slightly less.
When it comes to placing blame on the shoulders of the local government, the reason that we have a federal government, the reason that we are the UNITED states and not a collection of miniature countries is that we realized long ago that we are stronger as a group than we are individually. That's why we pay federal taxes, so that they government can allocate funds where they are most needed around the country, and as far as I'm concerned, the levees were the problem of the federal government, not the local government.
And it is FEMA's job to bail us out when there is a disaster too big for states to handle on their own, so when I hear people blaming the local government, it really gets on my nerves, because it seems like to blame the local government is to miss the point of a federal government altogether. And we have all been in situations that we simply could not handle alone, and for those situations, we have a federal government, almost an insurance, if you will.
And I'm not trying to be contrary but I often hear middle-class people toss off statements about welfare very casually and I think that most people are misinformed when it comes to government assistance. As for welfare checks being able to be sent anywhere around the country, I'm not so sure about that. My mom used to work for the State of Connecticut and they passed a law maybe about ten years ago that people had to pick up their welfare checks in person. And to qualify for welfare you can't have any assets, not even a car, so it's not easy to go get your check. And there are two-to-five year lifetime limits on welfare, so I really don't know what people are referring to when they talk about people living it up on government assistance because after the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 there really is no such thing as a government handout anymore.
But let's all think about the people that we saw on television stranded at the Convention Center and the Astrodome. The FEMA director said early on that those people "chose not to evacuate". Well the middle-class people who lost all had the choice to evacuate, because they had things like cars, or bus fare, or friends in other cities who could take them in. The poor didn't have that. But let's remember, they pay taxes too- sales tax and income tax (and since you can't be on welfare your entire lifetime, they DO pay income tax at some point). They have as much right to a government bailout as the rest of us do.
People are too quick to assume that people are poor because they are lazy or that they are taking advantage of the system- trust me since Welfare Reform it's very difficult to take advantage of the system these days. And I dare anyone to accuse a migrant worker making $1 an hour to pick grapes in the sun so that we can have inexpensive produce of being lazy. Poverty is not a choice.
Posted by: Lisa at Sep 14, 2005 8:15:07 PM
Wow. What a moving post.
Posted by: kimberly at Sep 14, 2005 8:26:42 PM
If you figure out a way to quit identifying with all of those women and mothers, please let me know how.
Posted by: Julia at Sep 14, 2005 9:16:41 PM
I responded personally to Julie - who I offended - and I am sorry.
It was not my intention to say that EVERY poor person does not work hard. I believe that Welfare/government assistance needs to be available as a safety net and a hand up in life. I've got friends who had to be on food stamps for a while. But, I don't think it needs to be a hand out for generations. I have personal experiences with people not willing to work even when offered work. And I'm not talking about single moms with small babies - I'm talking about able-bodied men.
The whole situation is very frustrating to me b/c it's in my backyard, and it has also gone on LONG LONG LONG before there was ever a hurricane named Katrina. I hate that anyone has to live in poverty. I hate that we seem to have a system that perpetuates it instead of fixes it. I hate that the politicians who promise to help the poor only really mean getting them to rely MORE on government instead of themselves, so that they are dependent on the politicians. (this goes on both sides of the aisle)
There is plenty of blame for this disaster to go around at all levels. The finger pointing seems to be very uniquely Louisiana...our weather, our food, and our politics. A wild gumbo.
As a side note. Governor Blanco did step up to the plate this afternoon and accept responsibility at the State level for her mis-steps. Good for her.
I actually pity the politicians - we all expect them to be perfect - but they are just humans. Under enormous pressure. With cultural, economic, and social problems that have been decades in the making. I don't think anyone acted with malicious intent. That goes for all of them. Even GW.
Posted by: Kay at Sep 14, 2005 9:38:42 PM
In support of Kay: my colleagues have been working with evacuees; most of them are lovely people, but many have never held a paying job. We, people who have never contemplated a life without work, boggle. What's wrong with this picture? Lordy! It's just sad, before you even bring the hurricane and the slapstick comedy that is FEMA into the picture.
And when you bring them in, of course, it's crazy-making. It annoys me that people who voted for Bush are now changing their minds. Seriously, as awful as this is, is anyone surprised that an administration where appointments based upon loyalty and background - not competence or pesky reality-based credentials - should come to this? I mourn for the people lost, but am I surprised? Please.
Posted by: Ingrid at Sep 14, 2005 10:04:57 PM
Julie, thank you for this post. I have been trying to follow what has happened with the preemies and hospitalized children throughout this ordeal. I am saddened to realize that I probably had a better grasp of the situation from my spotty attendance to the news than certain high level officials who were responsible for knowing and doing something about it. I was sickened with the understanding that my child *probably would not have made it* had it been us at the Superdome or the Convention Center (no breastmilk was forthcoming from my body and without formula...what?). I felt the panic rising while watching the news: What would I have done? I almost wrote you (noticing your absence, I refrained) to ask what we could do to help these families with children at risk and I'm so grateful to you for pointing us to the March of Dimes. Now I know how I can help. I'm so glad your family is safe.
Posted by: Diana at Sep 14, 2005 11:25:32 PM
This is what we get when we elect a government that is openly hostile to government, and manages it thusly.
Posted by: NWJR at Sep 15, 2005 8:52:23 AM
They had a kid on ECLS?! And they got him OUT?! On the HAND CRANK?! And he didn't BLEED to death!?
Those people are truly heroes. A thousand times over, and double points for that kid alone.
Posted by: Wrin at Sep 15, 2005 9:56:41 AM
Thank you for the links, especially the March of Dimes link. I was unaware that the March of Dimes specifically was involved in helping with this tragedy and will be sending a contribution.
Posted by: Susan at Sep 15, 2005 10:19:43 AM
WORD, WORD AND WORD Lisa! Very well said.
Posted by: Libby at Sep 15, 2005 10:21:15 AM
Thanks for a great post, Julie. I, too, found the forced separation of parents from their preemie babies to be one of the more wrenching parts of the Katrina story. I can't even imagine the level of stress those parents (and the nurses and doctors) must have felt, given that they were already in a high-stress situation. Of course, that aspect is easy compared to the stories of the people who lost their lives, especially, as well as homes, pets, livelihoods, support networks, and communities.
Posted by: Orange at Sep 15, 2005 10:22:47 AM
Hi me again (with nothing controversial to say) - I have a ton of friends who are working at Woman's Hospital (I will also deliver there in 5 weeks). They at one point had 119 babies in NICU and had to reopen wards that had been shut down for mommies and babies. Woman's Hospital is the #2 hospital in the country for babies I think. We have the level 3 NICU - whatever the highest level is. The nursing staff there is SO CARING and SO GREAT and SO WOMAN! They ONLY do WOMEN and BABIES at that hospital. It's a great place for those poor babies to be (if they have to be anywhere like that).
www.womans.org is the hospital website if any of you would like to check it out.
Posted by: Kay at Sep 15, 2005 10:29:03 AM
Bravo, Julie! I did not know you had family in the South, so glad to hear they are okay. I've missed you, and this post reminds me why. Beautifully said, you bring up so much of what I have been thinking about the last few weeks! I saw that woman too, the one with the non-responsive baby, and it haunts me. Absolutely. Thanks for the links, too.
Posted by: Kristin H. at Sep 15, 2005 10:53:53 AM
I sat and watched the debacle of the relief effort unfold on British Sky News while in my hotel room in Paris. I would stay up until 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. just to get live coverage.
Needless to say, with the exception of Anderson Cooper, CNN's coverage was in my opinion biased, one sided, and pro-Bush.
British Sky News told it like it was and many of their staff helped rescue people.
I'm a Canadian, and anti-Bush. I will not travel to the United States until Bush and the Republicans are out of office. And if Republicans get voted in again, I will refrain from travelling to the States.
I need someone to explain to me why the richest nation on this earth sat and ignored its citizens and allowed them die. And don't even get me started on Iraq.
Thanks for posting this.
Posted by: Scully at Sep 15, 2005 11:06:37 AM
Once, I had the pleasure of attending a seminar where Barbara Bush was the speaker. I liked her, not because she was a Republican, not because she was privelaged, but because she was real. She spoke her mind even if what was on it seemed less than appropriate to speak out loud. She made a mistake, it happens. I think we get so focused on who to blame, that we forget the real issue. Our government failed those people on all levels, not just a federal one. This thing can go on for years, and most likely will, but to move on, to get better, to heal, we must pull together as a nation and stop building walls between classes and races of people. The blacks want to yell 'discrimination' the whites want to yell 'no we didn't' when really all of us should be yelling, 'help eachother'. Our government has it's flaws but when I look at the government of many other countries, governments that have leaders that kill people based on their religion, I'm thankful that I live here, thankful that I can freely criticize my government and not be shot.
Let's be thankful people, we tend to look past the fact that really....we're all pretty damn lucky.
Posted by: networkchic at Sep 15, 2005 11:31:00 AM
Oh, well said darling. Well said.
Posted by: Cecily at Sep 15, 2005 11:48:32 AM
my sister in Denver, she is housing her in-laws who were born and raised in New Orleans. They have lost everything, but their pets and son (who is bi-polar and lives with them) are alive and with them. My sister is now the only one with a job, and support for this family. They have been given $400, dental coverage, and food stamps. They are grateful and thankful for what they have been given, because if this had happened in another country, they wouldn't have been "entitled" to anything. There wouldn't have even been any evacuation help.
Posted by: lil at Sep 15, 2005 12:07:00 PM
But, lil, those are their tax dollars! Of course they're "entitled" to help, because they and we have paid for it.
Posted by: Julie at Sep 15, 2005 1:09:49 PM
Thank you, Julie. We've been discussing where to send our contribution -- we donated baby goods for a church in Baton Rouge that's been taking care of moms and newborns, but we weren't sure where the best place to send money was (not sure I trust that the Red Cross will use it wisely, though they may). You've resolved that. I'll send my monetary contribution to the March of Dimes.
Posted by: Genevieve at Sep 15, 2005 1:14:52 PM
Here here, Julie. I am so glad to hear your family is safe... I think I would even feel better about things if someone, anyone, would have just dropped some freakin' cases of water and some food. I think we all understood how incrediby huge this disaster was and how hard it was going to be to evacuate the remnants of a city, but the people just sitting there with children and elderly parents who looked on the verge of death was just too much. It made every muscle, organ, and bone in my body hurt when I saw those scenes. Just some water. How on earth couldn't we have mustered that?
And on the local vs. federal response... how many of us know what our local gvmts have in mind for emergencies? Clearly the federal gvmt is focused on terrorist attacks, but what if there was a nuclear power plant disaster? Your kids would be at school. How would you get to them? Where would they be taken? How would you reunite? These are the things I have expected my Department of Homeland Security to be helping municipalities to figure out in the last few years. It also makes you realize the importance of local government -- so few of us get involved, leaving many of these jobs to (let's face it) not very intelligent people. Scares the living daylights out of me.
You know I have never agreed with the NRA about anything. But now I can sort of see why some of these militia members want to keep their weapons. If and when some country/entity decides to invade or take down a major metropolitan area, what the hell would we do? Wait on hold while FEMA tells us the systems are down? Try to round up our National Guard while our soldiers are fighting in Iraq? Wait at our local convention center while our leaders tried to figure out what the plan was?
Posted by: Imperfect Momy at Sep 15, 2005 1:36:54 PM
I hear you.
My husband was supposed to be shooting a film in New Orleans, and I planned to move there August 1st. I chose Memorial Medical Center b/c they have a level 3 NICU. I chose the Jacobson-Ruhe practice to be my practitioners. I ended up not going b/c of a variety of random reasons. I went into labor August 27th, the day they learned the hurricane was heading to New Orleans. (I was in California). My son had respiratory failure and went into the NICU here.
Memorials website says it evacuated everyone 5 days after the hurricane hit, but it doesn't go into detail about its NICU.
My family lives in the path of the hurricane, but they too are fine, just building damage.
Still, it all hits so close to home. "There but for the grace of God go I." You know?
Posted by: Julia at Sep 15, 2005 3:05:55 PM
Oh, I know. Yes, indeed, I know.
Posted by: Julie at Sep 15, 2005 3:49:34 PM
Barbara Bush is taking the heat for saying something stupid when there are far more callous and disgusting things that have been said, her's seems just a little simple minded while this:
"I mean, you have people who don't heed those warnings and then put people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings. There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving." –Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), Sept. 6, 2005
And This:
"We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did." –Rep. Richard Baker (R-LA) to lobbyists, as quoted in the Wall Street Journal
Are high on my list of people who should not be voted back into office for simple lack of understanding and human empathy. Then again, Rick Santorum can't seem to open his mouth EVER without shoving his foot straight down it.
Posted by: Nopenname at Sep 15, 2005 6:22:04 PM
Ohhhh, evil.
Posted by: Julie at Sep 15, 2005 6:39:13 PM
I'd like to publicly apologize for Rick Santorum.
I promise to find a way to register as many times as possible in the next election and make all my votes count.
"tougher penalities"...uh huh. As if sitting in feces next to a dead body isn't consequence enough. Maybe they need a spanking, too, to learn their lesson.
Anyway.
Hey Julie...it's called "empathy". You've got it good. But, unfortunately, it can hurt so bad.
And a quick note for people sending items: almost every shelter I've spoken with says that one thing they run out of quickly is feminine hygiene products. Can you imagine? As if losing your house, your job, and your everything doesn't suck enough: now you have your period. Also, for those sending to clothing drives, I've been reminded by my friends working the shelters that new socks, undies and bras are always, at the very least, a nice consolation prize.
Posted by: jozet at Sep 15, 2005 6:39:59 PM
I am disgusted by the reaction of local, state and federal government to this disaster. A lot went wrong. What it comes down to is that it really sucks to be poor. The really good news is that the nation has responded so well now with their pocketbooks. I think most people just didn't realize how bad it is in places like Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.
The most satisfying thing I ever did was to physically work with ASP (Appalachian Service Project). Habitat for Humanity is another great organization for people who want to do more. So if you've got more time than money, this may be an option for you. Even if you don't do it this time, keep it in your mind to do soon.
Posted by: katie at Sep 16, 2005 8:02:27 AM
Julie, I'm glad your family is OK. I kept checking back obsessively for news, glad they made it out.
About the rest of your post...I look at Polly's sweet face every morning, and give thanks that she has a roof over her head, that she has clean clothes, lots of diapers, food, milk, that I am able to choose whether to give her a bath that day or not. I have been unable to blog since this mess started, instead I troll dollar stores buying up manual can openers and shipping them south, holding clothing, food and toy drives, first in my building and now in my neighborhood and office, bringin my lunch to work instead of buying it so that money goes to donations, and still I face daily the inadequacy of it all.
These people are us.
The callousness of some of our politicians and press is just beyond the pale.
This is just an unfathomable tragendy, and the stories keep rolling in.
I just don't know what to say, except I hug Polly just a little bit tighter now.
Posted by: Menita at Sep 16, 2005 9:59:02 AM
BTW, what I mean by "these people are us" is that I get pretty bummed by the way they are described (by some media and politicians) in terms that only seem like they are being defined as "Other." Separate, not of us, which to me implies distance which can then imply we can glance away from their plight. And we just can't let that happen. Because this is not just an "incident." This is not a case of helping people out for a few days. This is something that will have repercussions for years and years and years, and it is, yes, an opportunity to fix some things that have been broken for too long. It is in that sense that I say "this is US," because all of our futures, all of our consciences are involved. Came out messy but hope it's intelligible.
Posted by: Menita at Sep 16, 2005 10:07:24 AM
As far as blame, Kay said it all as far as I am concerned:
"ALL levels of government failed. Starting with the CITY of New Orleans (democrat, black mayor). Then heading up to the STATE government (democrat, woman governor). Then the FEDERAL government (republican, white president). The president stepped up to accept responsibility, to my knowledge, the others have not."
Where is the mention of Mayor Nagin stating that he was proceeding with evacuation plans (a lie, reported in last Sunday's WashPost) and Gov. Blanco admitting pre-interview on CNN that she should have requested troops earlier? There is enough blame to go around it seems.
Posted by: Melissa at Sep 16, 2005 12:27:18 PM
