General Blather

I've been glued to the computer all week, reading articles, looking at photos...all of the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. With all I have seen, the one thought that sticks in my mind is "Can this really be happening in the US?" It seems surreal. The pics look like they were taken in some third world country. It hasn't hit home, I'm still in shock.

My hospital has put a call out for people to go down south and assist with setting up field hospitals, and helping with evacuations. I'm sure the docs and nurses working down there right now are exhausted. When you work in our field, you give so much of yourself without the presence of a natural disaster. When everything has been taken from you except your license to practice, what do you have left to give to your patient? Anyway, I volunteered to go, but my bosshole of a manager said we couldn't spare the staff...which is bullshit. I'm sure the folks down south are in a bit of a nursing crunch as well...and from where I'm sitting, their needs are greater. My coworkers are appalled that my request was denied, apparently some others were also denied as well. We are told to just donate money instead. Anyone can donate money, for nurses...time is more valuable.

Everyone is in a lather about the cost of gas, and will go higher. I'm sure it will go down eventually. Meanwhile, a lot of people are being more conservative about where they drive, how much they drive, and carpool. Thank God I have a car with better mileage. I do have to chuckle at the soccer moms filling up their big-ass Excursions at the pump. I'm sure they are lamenting for that station wagon they turned their noses up at. I can't really complain that much about the cost of gas. Sure, you get bent over and raped at the pump whenever you have to fill up...but there are worse things. I'm just happy I still have a car I can put gas in. I'm grateful that my job hasn't been washed away, that I have a home to go to with clothes and food. I'm most grateful that I know where everyone in my family is, and that they are safe. If it came down to it, I would even go back to driving Oprah if it meant I didn't have to live through the nightmare that the folks down south are living...and Oprah uses up a quarter of a tank just to start her.

Someone wrote that there are always two storms: the one that comes with wind and rain, then the political storm that follows. That is no lie. Already the fingers are pointing and blaming. Complaints about Bush because he didn't cut short his vacation before the hurricane hit. What the hell? What was he supposed to do? Go and try talking to the hurricane, convincing it to turn tail and hit Cuba instead?? The NAACP has now pulling out the "You ignored them because they were poor" horse and pony show...but you know they are DYING to pull the race card. I'm waiting for the ACLU to give us their interpretation of the incident.

I've decided that the NAACP and the ACLU are about as useful as big man-breasts...they serve no good purpose, but they garner a lot of attention.

Folks in New Orleans have taken to complaining that they have been abandoned...most of which are the same folks who didn't leave the city when they were ordered to evacuate (i.e. mandatory evacuation). The common reasons folks stayed behind..."I didn't think it would be that bad" or "I've lived through hurricanes before, I'll live through this one". Make no mistake, I am not talking about the elderly folks who just couldn't leave...no, I'm talking about the dumbasses who thought they were a lot tougher than airborne cars flying at 80mph. Plus, there are the pinheads who took to looting waterlogged electronic equipment, in a city that won't have electricity for months. Way to go, mental giants! To make things worse, thugs took up arms and declared war on the city...robbing, raping and trying to reinact scenes from Scarface. And I am supposed to feel sorry for some of these people? No, I'll save my compassion for the ones who are trying, the ones who are scared, the ones who still know how to be civilized human beings in times of crisis. I'll just hope the National Guard takes care of the native terrorists of New Orleans.

Americans are now opening their wallets and donating, some are even opening their homes...which makes me proud. Offers from other countries have started coming in. Chavez from Venezuela was the first to offer help, which I thought was pretty big of him. We should sent Pat Robertson with a thank you note...

Or maybe he could just be the thank you note.