[StBernard] St. Bernard Proud

[Westley Annis]

Chad:

I am telling you I have been thru these discussions before and the best
thing is to let them spill there guts out.  I don't reply or argue with
people that want to be heard of why returning to St Bernard isn't a good
thing.  I am over these people.   And don't you love the way they say
its not the same ?  Hello.............do they know there new neighbors
now?? Wherever it is they moved too.  The new neighbors I have are nice
and they have families and there are others that have returned.   Please
these people need to move on.   I am not being negative but enough is
enough.

St Bernard Resident and many friends and family !!!!! 


Jer: Dear Resident:

The problem with this logic is that it makes enemies of great people who no
longer have the option of their beloved parish (notice I said "their beloved
parish"? I've quite a few SB's that have moved to Metairie or the north
shore before the storm and I'm just as great a friend now as before they
left. It was their choice and not mine and I respect them for their
decision. I didn't belittle my friendship with them by blasting them for
making their live-choice for what they believe to be a better life. 

Such thinking is not only malicious and bitter, it's dangerous. It loses
friends (why is it that one has to have "new neighbors" to "replace" the
friends that left their neighborhood. In fact, the way people have turned
their lives away being neighborly to begin with is sad. There are
neighborhoods that are adhesive and caring as they come to interact, but
there are many which are not. I can recall in my neighborhood that people
came home from work, didn't bother to wave as I did, nor had block-parties,
neighborhood watches nor group gatherings as others. It's their choice of
course, but society for the most part have become somewhat paranoiac of
others throughout the years (yes, since I'm at such an age to remember the
word togetherness and consideration. It's also a litigious society and this
becomes worrisome to others who are ready to sue at the drop of the hat this
past 25 years.

Somehow, I did notice over the years that as many of my friends who have
been neighbors for 20 or 30 years were replaced by neighbors who won't give
me the time of day perhaps. I miss the friendship of former neighbors in
close proximity where we brought the newspaper or misplaced mail to their
home in courtesy, perhaps seeing each other for card games on Saturday
nights or even help one put up a fence or shed. Perhaps it's a sign of the
times, but it's sorely missed. So, if one does get a "good" neighbor,
cherish them. It's getting rarer/unusual to see it happen no matter if one
lives in the parish or elsewhere in this world. 

"Enough is enough?" - Sure, but please do not aim it at the wrong folks who
have had the same experience and gave a damn.  Redirecting anger toward
establishments that really wronged you/us as the Corps of Engineers who gave
us all a sense of false security, or the Feds/state, etc. for their failure
to be effective at a time that made the significant difference in our
future. "A sin is forgivable" some say, but ineffectiveness and ineptness is
more likely to do us in. That, my friend, is a "mortal" sin (and
unforgiveable) to we who are mortally wounded by those which we had
entrusted our lives. The Sicilians say: "I'll forgive, but I won't soon
forget!"

--jer--