[Email] Letter to Family
Re: Update From Minnesota
I'll say my piece for it now, as well.
We've outright failed the people down there. The director of FEMA has said he was unaware of the disaster for two days. President Bush took the time to attend a concert and play the guitar (a special guitar with the Presidential Seal on it, no less), and ended his vacation 'early' to deal with the disaster. His 'tour' of the disaster area was in a helicopter, and his total time in the area was aroudn two to three hours. He called for 'immediate action'.
Personally, I like the words of the mayor of New Orleans better. He said on national television that people need to get their asses down there and do something. That's practically a direct quote. He is, in his own words, pissed. He's got every right to be.
I've got to say, I'm pretty happy that Uncle Richard's house is probably okay. I'm also glad they had the foresight and the kindness to take their cat. There are two rescue efforts going on right now -- one to rescue the trapped humans, and another to rescue the cats, dogs, and other creatures left behind. Some were forced to (one child at the Superdome was refused entry onto a bus with his dog), others thought 'I'll only be gone a couple days' and left some extra food and water -- the worst ones were the people who left them without a second glance. I am *VERY* glad to hear that my aunt and uncle took the cat with them.
Most of my friends know that David may still be down there. They're worried for me, but we all agree -- he's probably holed up somewhere and simply unable to connect to the outside world to tell everyone he's okay. It's once we don't hear from him in two or three months that we'll have to start worrying. Every time I log in to the online computer game I play, the other members of the guild my character's in ask if there's been any word. (He's okay. I guess I missed all the parts where they said the *three* drove up in separate cars. Silly Erika.)
There is a large contingent of people in New Orleans that are members of the same in-person nationally played roleplaying game that I do. As of yesterday, only one is confirmed accounted four, another five or six rumored to have escaped, and the rest? Nobody knows. In a group of thousands, it's a pretty tight-knit group. We mess with each other, but nobody else can. The entire club is worried sick about them and any updates on their whereabouts are being posted to various lists so people can know.
What's my part in all this? Nothing, yet. I'm waiting until the furor dies down, waiting until the initial rush of funding and volunteers fade, and THEN I'm going to step in. I'm actually on a Red Cross waiting list to go down and volunteer. As little money as I have on a regular basis, this is about the only way I can help.
So there's my own little novel, written for your information. We've each got a lot of crap to get off our chests, and what better place to share than with family.
In love and light,
~Erika
I'll say my piece for it now, as well.
We've outright failed the people down there. The director of FEMA has said he was unaware of the disaster for two days. President Bush took the time to attend a concert and play the guitar (a special guitar with the Presidential Seal on it, no less), and ended his vacation 'early' to deal with the disaster. His 'tour' of the disaster area was in a helicopter, and his total time in the area was aroudn two to three hours. He called for 'immediate action'.
Personally, I like the words of the mayor of New Orleans better. He said on national television that people need to get their asses down there and do something. That's practically a direct quote. He is, in his own words, pissed. He's got every right to be.
I've got to say, I'm pretty happy that Uncle Richard's house is probably okay. I'm also glad they had the foresight and the kindness to take their cat. There are two rescue efforts going on right now -- one to rescue the trapped humans, and another to rescue the cats, dogs, and other creatures left behind. Some were forced to (one child at the Superdome was refused entry onto a bus with his dog), others thought 'I'll only be gone a couple days' and left some extra food and water -- the worst ones were the people who left them without a second glance. I am *VERY* glad to hear that my aunt and uncle took the cat with them.
Most of my friends know that David may still be down there. They're worried for me, but we all agree -- he's probably holed up somewhere and simply unable to connect to the outside world to tell everyone he's okay. It's once we don't hear from him in two or three months that we'll have to start worrying. Every time I log in to the online computer game I play, the other members of the guild my character's in ask if there's been any word. (He's okay. I guess I missed all the parts where they said the *three* drove up in separate cars. Silly Erika.)
There is a large contingent of people in New Orleans that are members of the same in-person nationally played roleplaying game that I do. As of yesterday, only one is confirmed accounted four, another five or six rumored to have escaped, and the rest? Nobody knows. In a group of thousands, it's a pretty tight-knit group. We mess with each other, but nobody else can. The entire club is worried sick about them and any updates on their whereabouts are being posted to various lists so people can know.
What's my part in all this? Nothing, yet. I'm waiting until the furor dies down, waiting until the initial rush of funding and volunteers fade, and THEN I'm going to step in. I'm actually on a Red Cross waiting list to go down and volunteer. As little money as I have on a regular basis, this is about the only way I can help.
So there's my own little novel, written for your information. We've each got a lot of crap to get off our chests, and what better place to share than with family.
In love and light,
~Erika