It was the best of times....
Never is the character of the American people more evident than in times of crisis. At home or abroad, Americans are among the most compassionate and generous people on the planet. This is again evident in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which looks to become the most devastating hurricane ever to hit the United States. What do Americans do when disaster strikes? They band together. They dig deep. Everywhere you look, there are stories that show the best of what mankind can become.
It starts at a young age. Children across our country are taking hammers to piggy banks - forgoing Barbies and baseballs, because they want to help. They are creating lemonade stands - not so that they can have a little spending money, but because there are people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama that don't have a room, a shirt or a decent meal. They are donating their favorite stuffed animals - because they know that there are children out there that lost their own.
The city of Houston has reached out and is taking in tens of thousands of people that have been trapped in New Orleans. Many Houston hotels have reduced their rates, rather than increase them. The city is allowing cars with Louisiana plates to have free parking. The governor of Texas has offered to take the children of New Orleans that have been relocated into the Texas public schools.
I was listening to the radio today, and I heard a woman from Arizona say that she would like to take a family into her home. She said that she had room for a family of four. Many of us are reaching into our wallets, offering to help in that way, but this woman was offering to let a family of strangers into her life. I know of no more generous offer than to share your home, your life, with a complete stranger.
Who is it that says that Corporate America is heartless? Corporation after corporation is donating Food, Clothing and Water, as well as cash donations to charities in order to help people that have been devastated by Katrina. GM and Nissan are sending vehicles to help with disaster recovery. Budweiser is bottling water, not beer and sending it to the hurricane ravaged Gulf Coast. This article in USA Today documents even more of the efforts that Corporate America is making to help out in this time of disaster.
It was the worst of times....
Just as a disaster can bring out the best in people, it can also bring out the worst. The looters were just the beginning. I don't hold it against people that have taken the food, clothing or medical supplies that they might need to survive, though I believe that they should attempt some form of restitution at some future date. Televisions, however, are not a necessity. It is tragic that, just as the rest of America is being selfless, there is a portion of it that is being completely and entirely selfish. I have heard reports of trucks that are coming into the areas with supplies being hijacked. A medical airlift attempting to get some of the sick and the injured out of the Superdome was at least temporarily suspended after someone apparently fired a shot at a military helicopter. There are reports of police officers turning in their badges. They have lost everything, and don't feel that it is worth it to risk their lives battling thugs and looters.
Who can blame them? I have heard many complain about the lack of relief - that there is too little, too late. At the same time, though, there is a portion of the population that is actively hindering rescue and relief operations. Shots are being fired at police officers. Violence is being threatened against rescue workers, in an attempt to have their family attended to first.
Respect. This is a word that is often bandied about. Respect, though, is something to be earned, and the best way to earn it is to act respectably. Unfortunately, there are so many good people that are suffering because of the actions of these thugs. I don't remember people that were affected by last December's tsunami being this ungrateful, or this demanding, either. It doesn't help to dwell on the things that one doesn't have - it is much better to be grateful for what we do have.
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2 comments:
You know, you are so right.....the best of times, the worst of times. Sometimes I am grateful that I don't have cable television right now for then I am not GLUED to the TV and the reports of devistation and hopelessness. A patient at my office is a news anchor for a big-city news radio station and he's been treated in the past with antidepressants. Gee, is it any wonder? The reports of vandalism, rape, chaos would depress me too if I had to talk about it, think it, live it (albeit not in a literal sense) 24/7. It's pathetic enough that news people have to even report the sorts of wrong-doing that they are having to talk about. Just sickens me! What you did talk about, though, the compassion that young and old alike have for the people affected by this event....THAT is amazing in itself. People across America ARE reaching out, and it's too bad that it takes an event such as Katrina to make people compelled to band together and contribute what they can, monetarily or otherwise. A friend of mine has been off work for almost 6 mos...let go due to company downsizing. He felt compelled to call the Red Cross and contribute a small amount of money....ony $10, but being that he's been off of work and living on his savings, it was all that he felt he could send at present. As it turns out, he was not listening carefully enough to the prompts on the automated voice response system, and instead of donating $10, he donated $1,000! He realized too late what he had done, but he chalked it up to this: his words were "God has blessed me even though I've been out of work, He will take care of my needs now, too". It is unfortunate that all of us, as Americans, will feel the economic squeeze that will occur from Katrina, but, lest we all forget.......let's not feel sorry for ourselves when we have to pay over $3 a gallon for gasoline. We do, after all, have the most precious thing there is.....our lives.
I am not surprised that someone in the news media would have to be treated with anti-depressants. They spend so much of their time reporting on the worst things in the world that they get a proctologist's view of humanity. Other professions have similar experiences. Many police officers start looking at the world as "us" vs. "them". They see most everyone as a criminal, or a potential criminal, because that is what they are exposed to day after day. Doctors probably see illness and health risks around every corner. Psychiatrists probably spend even their off hours diagnosing nuerosis - whether they exist or not. It is difficult today to view the world through rose-colored glasses, but each of us sees a world shaded by the tint of the lenses we all wear.
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