OT note from a victim and angel

This is from the owner of a motel in or around Metairie, I-10 &
Clearview, I found it on one of the BB set up to find people.


If you are one of those people who worked and called and prayed to get
us out of New Orleans, thank you. Please continue. If you are one of
those people who can only criticize and blame the government, the
Police, the Hospitals and the citizenry for what has happened, please
STOP. It is no one's FAULT that nature blasted through our region. The
government did not DELIBERATELY come into this disaster ill-prepared.
Hospitals did not REFUSE services because they did not care. PEOPLE
DID NOT STAY JUST TO HAVE HURRICANE PARTIES! People stayed because
they had no money--no transportation--no place to go. In our case, our
employees stayed to help those in need and now they are all in need.

We sent employees to Baton Rouge, Shreveport and beyond with nothing
more than what they could carry and with no paychecks or other
resources. We gave our 60 year-old night auditor $33 in quarters to
help him get a little food when he arrived in Lake Charles. A 23
year-old desk clerk, whose grandmother suffered a massive stroke on
hurricane day and who still paddled six of our ill guests to the same
hospital after the storm, left town in a $300 car and with three
stranded airline passengers. He took them to Baton Rouge Metro Airport
and I am certain they gave him whatever they could spare as he left
for Shreveport.

It is vicious and cruel and heartless to call people stupid for living
in such a place or for making the choice--if even given one--to stay
during such hard times. It is unproductive to play "armchair
quarterback" and dictate from the comfort of your living room how
poorly things are being managed and what they "should have done." It
is pure evil to even dare to testify that God punished people for sin
by such a horrible tragedy.

In the four miserable days we stayed locked in a wet, dark, hot hotel,
we came together as one unified race comprised of Asians, Hispanics,
African-Americans, Caucasians and perhaps any combination therein, and
we survived. Wouldn't it be great if we could do that on a daily
basis?

Bonnie Patterson wrote:
This is from the owner of a motel in or around Metairie, I-10 &
Clearview, I found it on one of the BB set up to find people.


If you are one of those people who worked and called and prayed to get
us out of New Orleans, thank you. Please continue. If you are one of
those people who can only criticize and blame the government, the
Police, the Hospitals and the citizenry for what has happened, please
STOP. It is no one's FAULT that nature blasted through our region. The
government did not DELIBERATELY come into this disaster ill-prepared.
Hospitals did not REFUSE services because they did not care. PEOPLE
DID NOT STAY JUST TO HAVE HURRICANE PARTIES! People stayed because
they had no money--no transportation--no place to go. In our case, our
employees stayed to help those in need and now they are all in need.

We sent employees to Baton Rouge, Shreveport and beyond with nothing
more than what they could carry and with no paychecks or other
resources. We gave our 60 year-old night auditor $33 in quarters to
help him get a little food when he arrived in Lake Charles. A 23
year-old desk clerk, whose grandmother suffered a massive stroke on
hurricane day and who still paddled six of our ill guests to the same
hospital after the storm, left town in a $300 car and with three
stranded airline passengers. He took them to Baton Rouge Metro Airport
and I am certain they gave him whatever they could spare as he left
for Shreveport.

It is vicious and cruel and heartless to call people stupid for living
in such a place or for making the choice--if even given one--to stay
during such hard times. It is unproductive to play "armchair
quarterback" and dictate from the comfort of your living room how
poorly things are being managed and what they "should have done." It
is pure evil to even dare to testify that God punished people for sin
by such a horrible tragedy.

In the four miserable days we stayed locked in a wet, dark, hot hotel,
we came together as one unified race comprised of Asians, Hispanics,
African-Americans, Caucasians and perhaps any combination therein, and
we survived. Wouldn't it be great if we could do that on a daily
basis?

Amen.

--

the black rose
Research Associate in the Field of Child Development and Human
Relations
http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts
2005 BOMs: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/blackrosequilts/my_photos

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