[StBernard] abandoned houses

[Westley Annis]

Powerful, excellent and no, I did not sign up for this social experiment
either! You should submit it to the Times or Oxford or somewhere; that was
great! I am printing it to save. Mudpie 



	----- Original Message -----
	
	"Katrina has taughed us many lessons and opened our eyes so that we
see 
	things that were overlooked before. One of those things is the break
down of 
	family and neighbors. I see that on this web site. There has been a
lot of 
	finger pointing and who are the haves and have-nots. Things about
those who 
	have insurance verus those who did not. Now it is who is cleaning
and who is 
	not. Everyone in this parish has had a great lost. The residents,
whether 
	renting or buying. And what is upseting is that not all our
families, 
	friends and neighbors are not getting together is some way to help
each 
	other. I know some are, but not all. Our grown children, our nephews
and 2 
	of our childrens friends got together and helped us, my parents, my
in-laws 
	and one of our friends empty out our houses. They made sure that all
the 
	heavy, hard to move by yourself items were taken out first. They did
not 
	empty or gut the entire houses, but at least the hard items. They
rest we 
	can slowly do ourselves. It seems years ago this is how things got
done, 
	with the help of family, friends and neighbors. What happen to our
society? 
	==CASSAVEDO" 
	
	****Just an observation however: Katrina literally has "spent"
energies, 
	resources, motivation and to many, a point to continue forward at a
very 
	conservative pace. To those who have "lost everything" (meaning
having 
	invested all they had into their family dwelling in possessions and 
	property), waiting cautiously (and not necessarily cautiously 
	optimistically), is more the norm than not--considering 80-85% of 
	inhabitants are withstanding/withholding from reihabitating St.
Bernard. The 
	"have's" who were made whole with insurance/savings/etc. were in
position to 
	continue on with their lives financially, while those who were 
	not-so-fortunate has little resources to do so. They must depend on 
	financial help from programs/plans which have yet to be enacted. 
	
	Perhaps it is the energies as in this writer's case that are spent
in 
	anxiety (which as we know that it takes a lot of will power,
emotional 
	strength because one who worries incessantly can drain his/her vigor
to 
	exhaustion. It's hard to place into words, but incentive to a "huge
loser" 
	from the storm is nil. Entire families have lost pride, will and
being 
	thrown to the bottom can crush huge egos faster than a incoming
meteor. 
	
	A huge motivator seems to be good things happening to people. When
good 
	things happen (especially consistantly) an emotional high develops
with each 
	passing goodness. Hearing good news, (such as grants/recovery
options), 
	having financial breaks, ..little by little rebuilds one's spirit. 
	
	I did notice that many victims have become calloused/hardened by the
storm. 
	Many of us are more edgy, determined, and provoked by waits,
disappointments 
	and failures. I suppose it can be said if anything good comes out of
it, one 
	has become more "street smart, book smart and internet savvy" by the

	experience. 
	
	As to "What Happened to our society?", displaced people have been
separated 
	from its *support system*. Doctors, friends, churches, etc.
separations 
	seemed to add to the chilling effect. So surreal. If a smaller
community 
	that exists in St. Bernard have the old-fashioned "build the barn" 
	helpfulness, I haven't noticed it in years. I knew it didn't exist
for me 
	before the storm, as it must have left lives in da parish and other
places 
	long before. Some would think that this disaster would have narrowed
down 
	the ills of non-social conforming. Whether distrustful natures still
exists 
	or a friendly-environment is not yet in place, presently--it's 
	understandable until we can break down our fear of the unknown. We
distrust 
	everyone and anyone these days. Who is our neighbor, anyway? 
	
	We can blame it on technology, perhaps. When we went to 
	air-conditioning/central heating, perhaps. When we went inside, we
stayed 
	there with televisions, radio, and now computers. See what happens
when we 
	have a power failure and everyone is outside discussing the latest
with 
	their neighbors? 
	
	--Jer--