More heartbreak from New Orleans

[jonobie]

Another heart-rending first hand account from someone trapped in New Orleans. It's a video clip of a New Orleans musician talking about her experiences. Don't watch it at work without first closing your door; it may bring you to tears.

Comments

[hollie_is_right]

Hmmm.....I am very leery about swallowing that hook, line, and sinker.

[jonobie]

Can you be more specific about what you disbelieve?

I've seen enough such stories that while some particulars may be wrong, there are enough commanalities to make me believe that a great many things went very, very, wrong in New Orleans.

[hollie_is_right]

Indeed, I'm not disputing that some bad things happened to her and many others. But there is just something about it that seems very embellished, if you will.

[jonobie]

Perhaps, although having not interacted directly with people who've seen a lot of grief and trauma, I'm not sure on how much of what might sound weird is due to the strong emotions (and perhaps because she's told the story many times as part of the processing), and how much is due to embellishment. Enough of it seems to line up with other things I've read that I believe the general arc of the story.

Cheers,
Jonobie

[sheenaqotj]

Thanks for the warning. I was fine through most of it but the end jerked the tears out.

Unlike the other poster, I think it's authentic. This seems pretty typical, actually. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/topstory2/3334317

[hollie_is_right]

This "other poster" isn't saying unquivocally that the story is flat-out a lie.

[sheenaqotj]

This poster isn't saying the other poster is saying unequivocally that the story is flat-out a lie.

[hollie_is_right]

Ok. It kind of sounded like it. I definitely think too many horrible things happened, too many things went wrong. I wasn't speaking as a "pollyana" or any such thing.

[euphrasyne]

I've seen refugees. I've worked with them. Her story seems to be accurate in sturcture if not detail.

Truth: lack of help, shooting, rape, people trapped
Embellishment: number of people trapped, exactly who is not being helped (I've spoken to some 8th ward people at the local shelter, and there were a few opportunities to get out,) amount of rape (though any is bad,) severity of lack of food. Lack of food is a non issue without a complicating problem like being diabetic. Lack of water is serious, but food almost everyone can do without.

[jonobie]

I was wondering a couple of days ago how much of the problem was complicated by the fact that I think a lot of people don't understand that water is critical and food is not. I saw a picture with a bunch of trash on the ground, among which included a half-full gatorade bottle. I was astonished and wanted to say, "Don't you know what you're wasting there!? That's what you need to *live*!" And heck, it even has calories as a bonus.