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think365, good info, thanks for sharing.
I just personally want to clear something up, no where in this thread does it say New Orleans or it's general population is bad, not useful, non consequential or any thing else like that. I believe it all says that certain groups of Katrina evacuees took more than advantage of the situation and the media highlighted and lifted up their platform to enable them to do so. Having these evacuees in the Knoxville shelter obviously expecting, and believing they have a right to, the Ritz Carlton life style because they had a bad storm come through just shows that they believe history will repeat itself with the hand outs. It is just incomprehensible to me to have people act this way in a crisis. This really has nothing to do with NO as a city or LA as a state but these peoples actions, they just happened to have come from there, doesn't make the city/state of less worth by any means. If you got that from any of my posts, I do apologies to you.
mb, you were posting as I was. Great post. I would also like to say that no one should take anything written personally. If the shoe fits wear it but if it doesn't, then don't. It's great to have pride in your hometown, wherever that may be. It's also good to know that people are people and no matter the circumstances, or the city, or whatever; there will be those people that rise to the occasion and those that disappoint the heck out of us. That's life.
We cannot judge an area or an event by isolated incidents and individuals.
You know, whatever the data may suggest or the facts seem to support, I would rather give my tax dollars to 100 ungrateful people than to risk missing the 10 most grateful and needy ones among them.
It boils down to the fact that we live in a wonderful society that believes in taking care of its citizens - especially, in time of terrible disasters, but it is still a very flawed system. It is run by men with imperfect skills and mindsets, there are all kinds of loopholes and payoffs, there is waste and there is misappropriment.
But, this does not negate the fact that it also reaches those who cannot help themselves and who might perish if the help was not there. Who among us would want to point to someone in advance and say this person will not receive our charity because I don't think he will be thankful or use it properly? Who would risk another's life and safety because of where they come from or because of the circumstances that brought them to our door? Not me. I will give until I have no more to give in the hope that someone who truly needs it and uses it for the right purpose is on the receiving end.
There are good outcomes, there are shoddy outcomes. But, we have no way of predicting and this disaster cannot be compared to the last disaster to determine how much or to whom we should give or help out.
I hope that the majority of the folks who have suffered as a result of Gustav and the many storms yet to come this year will receive our charity. It isn't charity if it is given begrudgingly or with the stipulation that someone say "Thank you". It is only charity if it comes from the heart and conscience to no matter who the receiver is.
I know that everyone has an opinion and everyone has had a personal experience of one kind or another of giving gone bad, but such is life in an imperfect world. We don't give up being moral, giving human beings because not everyone has scrupples or the same brand of conscience as we do.
God bless each and every one of those affected - grateful or complaining. I don't care. I just want to see those that are desperate, hungry, cold and tired to be taken care of, regardless of the freeloaders hiding in the shadows. So be it.
Reading between the lines: Poor, mainly African American inner-city residents don't deserve help during a natural disaster because many of them get government assistance "that I pay for." I can guarantee that the amount of tax money given to those hurricane victims was infinitesimal compared to the amount our government gives to major corporations and contractors every year
There is no need to read between the lines. I am not making this racial and I did not make the "broad" statement that no one should recieve assitance. And I should of added that this was not a local issue as to the hand outs, back to post 16 where I started on the florida residents that did the same thing. It is sad when a PORTION of the citizens expect to get everything for nothing and they yell when it is not enough. And let me say one more time that it is not racial and it is not just the poor. But as to comparing corporate and or contractors--not going there.
Alls I can say is that if I were shipped off hundreds of miles from my home and forced to try to sleep on a cot in a room with noisy people I'd be grumpy, too.
Plus thay can see from the news that this isn't Katrina II and thier homes are allright but no one will say when they can go home. Maybe "Brownie II" made good arrangements to get them out but forgot to get them home?
I know the bus comment was meant to be snarky but I think it is a good suggestion. It is reassuring to be in a familiar environment, particularly when you are stressed.
There is no need to read between the lines. I am not making this racial and I did not make the "broad" statement that no one should recieve assitance. And I should of added that this was not a local issue as to the hand outs, back to post 16 where I started on the florida residents that did the same thing. It is sad when a PORTION of the citizens expect to get everything for nothing and they yell when it is not enough. And let me say one more time that it is not racial and it is not just the poor. But as to comparing corporate and or contractors--not going there.
I'm not making a personal jab at you; I am playing the devils advocate to a point but also expressing my personal viewpoints. I may have hit below the belt with the racial card, I apologize.
I was from the "Katrina zone", and my family still lives there in south MS.
In all the trips we made down there after Katrina, I didn't encounter anyone who was looking for a handout or anyone who wasn't grateful for the help we offered. The gratitude and humility of the people moved me to tears many times.
Half the people in my family or circle of friends lost everything except their lives, and they were grateful their lives had been spared. They still talk about the church groups (and others) that came down, using vacation time to help them clear out their flooded homes or rebuild what was gone. These same people who lost all dusted themselves off, picked themselves up and worked hard to rebuild.
At times, they were discouraged, and 'cranky' as another poster put it. Can't say I wouldn't have been the same. Try having to leave your home and wondering if those you love who foolishly stayed have died, and not knowing for a week or longer. Try having everything you own destroyed and sitting in flood waters for weeks (New Orleans), and then having to evacuate again 3 years later. I'd hazard a guess that the stress would make most of us cranky. I know it would me.
The courage and hard-work ethic of the MS Gulf Coast and many hard-working honest people in New Orleans isn't news. Only the negative is. And the press (I call them that loosely, they are more like "tabloid trash" these days) is hunting down the angle they want to people to hear, and feeding us junk food garbage regularly.
Sorry if this sounds critical. It's not of those in this thread, but those who wrote the trash they called news. Knox News (a substandard newspaper at best) is really good with this. Reminds me of the neighbor that has nothing good to say about anyone in the neighborhood.
And a handful of ungrateful people from New Orleans does not a city (or region) make. I find the old-timers, the true people of New Orleans, to be some of the best people in this country.
think365, good info, thanks for sharing.
I just personally want to clear something up, no where in this thread does it say New Orleans or it's general population is bad, not useful, non consequential or any thing else like that. I believe it all says that certain groups of Katrina evacuees took more than advantage of the situation and the media highlighted and lifted up their platform to enable them to do so. Having these evacuees in the Knoxville shelter obviously expecting, and believing they have a right to, the Ritz Carlton life style because they had a bad storm come through just shows that they believe history will repeat itself with the hand outs. It is just incomprehensible to me to have people act this way in a crisis. This really has nothing to do with NO as a city or LA as a state but these peoples actions, they just happened to have come from there, doesn't make the city/state of less worth by any means. If you got that from any of my posts, I do apologies to you.
Right. No where do we say ALL of New Orleans if filled with losers. That's ludicrous.
We said a few ended up here and were whining, even exaggerating about their food.
I also want to point out to BarbG that original story that we are commenting on is from a TELEVISION station. I agree that the Knox Sentinel is not the best paper in the world. I know, that's an understatement. I was a newspaper reporter for years, and I only check their stories when necessary. However, they did a fantastic job during the church shooting, so things may be changing.
A lot of the people commenting on this thread have been through horrifying hurricanes too, so we know the score.
Gailli told us about going through Andrew the second most destructive hurricane in US history.
I didn't mention it, but I went through Charley which was a year before Katrina and a Category Four. I had to get a pass to get to work, and we had no money for a week.
Painter is in the panhandle, MBMouse is from Jupiter, FL.
I always wanted to visit New Orleans with it's lovely historic buildings. I had a lot of customers in that area when I worked for BellSouth and loved talking to them the most.
I understand people thinking that this thread is a slam on New Orleans and its people, but it is not. Really read the thread. And read a couple others, where us regular forum members fret over the fate of the city and its people.
There is white and black trash everywhere. I want to point out that the woman that told me to lie about the hurricane relief was white. Believe me, con artists, leeches and lazy slobs crosses all racial lines.
I have slept in the woods, I have gone without food sometimes for a week and then another week again, and I was grateful for any food I could find.
It really ticks me off when people feel entitled.
Last edited by hiknapster; 09-04-2008 at 03:39 PM..
I think when any large group of people get hit with such a large magnitude disaster that Katrina was you will find noble people and you will find ignoble people. Barb your family and all the people you spoke of were the same kind that have gone back quietly after tornadoes, earthquakes, mudslides and wildfires and cleaned up and rebuilt without fanfare. So many people outside of NO suffered just as devastating losses but were not as interesting to the media who always look for the sensational and lowest common denominator.
Many of us do know about those who lost much and were grateful for any and all help. I have a friend still living there who was fortunate enough to still have her house standing after Katrina, but she also has spoken of those family and friends who lost everything. I mean everything... no insurance, no home and all their belongings gone or in ruin and salvageable. They deserve not to be lumped together with the element that has been mentioned. People who have time after time stuck out expectant hands, and who have not done anything to help themselves. Unfortunately they are also the ones who have received all the media attention and are continuing to behave as the prima donas. This does not have to do with color of skin, but with an inability to understand responsibility for oneself. There is no "between the lines" to read on this. I have no idea what color the gentleman is and have no interest in knowing because it is not germane to the issue. The person complaining was not one of the many noble examples but someone who expected to be treated as royalty for having been in a place that was damaged by a natural disaster. There was absolutely no reason for him to feel compelled to stay, he could have walked out at any time to find someplace else or he could have walked out and gotten fast food on his own but could not even take that much initiative. If he was truly so destitute that he did not have enough for the the dollar menu at the local burger place then he would have been happy eating anything, I know I would be if I truly had nothing. Instead he complained like a spoiled child and the media people sensationalized it.
I'm really not going to get into all the argument but I can say that they just mentioned that this evacuation is costing Knoxville a lot of money since they wont let the evacuees go back home maybe for a few more days.
Its neighborly to give to those unfortunate as we pray someone would do the same for us but I believe its okay to complain about the people complaining when its our Tax dollars supporting them right now, a little "gripe" never hurt anyone, just lets us get it off our chest.
I think like everyone says, there are good and bad every where in all walks of life, every city, every county, every state and there always will be the "few"who think everyone owes them
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We cannot judge an area or an event by isolated incidents and individuals.
