Maybe some others here need to just get this stuff off their chests too. If so, please post here.
I was watching Fox News today at lunch. Shepard Smith has been in New Orleans (Phil Keating too) since before the hurricane actually struck. He was on the I-10 in front of the Superdome, talking to a few of the thousands who are wandering around the highway system because it's the only place above water. He talked to some people coming out of the Projects. The first guy he talked to was carrying a small girl, maybe 6 or 7 years old, out of the water to the highway. The man said he had been working all night bringing people out - probably 50-60 people just today. And as if to punctuate it, among those coming their way was an older woman with a shopping cart trying to get to the highway. The man ran back into the water to help her get out. He interviewed more people and the story was nearly all the same. "We just need help! We haven't eaten or had anything to drink in two days. We haven't slept since the hurricane hit. And we don't know where to go. No one is telling us where to get help." God it was heartbreaking.
Then I get home tonight and check my emails. There's one from the ASPCA asking for donations to their emergency relief fund. I've gotten them from the HSUS and Alley Cat Allies (I'm on all of their mailing lists), but this one said something that hit home. I hadn't even thought about it before.
Since I saw that today, I've just been so sad. Not just because it's really starting to hit me the catastrophe that actually happened, but a few other reasons too. First, I feel so damn helpless! I'm not very well off financially. We're barely getting by, and right now are just trying to catch up after some stuff this summer. I mean, I'm going to donate something, but it almost seems futile with the small amount I can give. And then where do I give? Red Cross? ASPCA? The people need help so badly, but there are also so many animals that need help as well - and they aren't getting nearly the publicity.
And then there's the attitudes of some people. I'm mainly talking about idiots I hear calling in on the radio talk shows. People who said that "Those people knew there were risks living there. They shouldn't get any federal assistance." And the "Why does the US need or even deserve aid from anywhere else? Look what we've done to the world!" And of course, the reports that some places are actually rejoicing at this tragedy. How can they be so freakin' callous? I mean, I didn't hear anyone rejoicing here when the earthquake hit Iran. Are human lives that meaningless to some people?
I'm just so sad. I'm crying just thinking about all of it. And I know I can't comprehend what happened. I've never even been to the Gulf Coast. I've never seen or experienced this kind of devastation. I can't imagine it - and it's so devastating to me right now. How must those people who have lost everything feel?
If you've made it this far...thank you for reading and peering into my psyche. If you want to add to it, and express your own feelings, please do.
I was watching Fox News today at lunch. Shepard Smith has been in New Orleans (Phil Keating too) since before the hurricane actually struck. He was on the I-10 in front of the Superdome, talking to a few of the thousands who are wandering around the highway system because it's the only place above water. He talked to some people coming out of the Projects. The first guy he talked to was carrying a small girl, maybe 6 or 7 years old, out of the water to the highway. The man said he had been working all night bringing people out - probably 50-60 people just today. And as if to punctuate it, among those coming their way was an older woman with a shopping cart trying to get to the highway. The man ran back into the water to help her get out. He interviewed more people and the story was nearly all the same. "We just need help! We haven't eaten or had anything to drink in two days. We haven't slept since the hurricane hit. And we don't know where to go. No one is telling us where to get help." God it was heartbreaking.
Then I get home tonight and check my emails. There's one from the ASPCA asking for donations to their emergency relief fund. I've gotten them from the HSUS and Alley Cat Allies (I'm on all of their mailing lists), but this one said something that hit home. I hadn't even thought about it before.
OK, I mean, of course those buildings were wiped out with the rest of the area...but I hadn't thought about it before. There are so many animals who were abandoned and there is no place that can help them. No place. And how many animals were trapped in cages and runs that had no chance at all at surviving? The horror they had to be in not understanding what was happening...Funds raised will go directly to the ASPCA Disaster Relief Fund, and will be used to help shelters in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama rebuild facilities and assist in their disaster recovery efforts.
Since I saw that today, I've just been so sad. Not just because it's really starting to hit me the catastrophe that actually happened, but a few other reasons too. First, I feel so damn helpless! I'm not very well off financially. We're barely getting by, and right now are just trying to catch up after some stuff this summer. I mean, I'm going to donate something, but it almost seems futile with the small amount I can give. And then where do I give? Red Cross? ASPCA? The people need help so badly, but there are also so many animals that need help as well - and they aren't getting nearly the publicity.
And then there's the attitudes of some people. I'm mainly talking about idiots I hear calling in on the radio talk shows. People who said that "Those people knew there were risks living there. They shouldn't get any federal assistance." And the "Why does the US need or even deserve aid from anywhere else? Look what we've done to the world!" And of course, the reports that some places are actually rejoicing at this tragedy. How can they be so freakin' callous? I mean, I didn't hear anyone rejoicing here when the earthquake hit Iran. Are human lives that meaningless to some people?
I'm just so sad. I'm crying just thinking about all of it. And I know I can't comprehend what happened. I've never even been to the Gulf Coast. I've never seen or experienced this kind of devastation. I can't imagine it - and it's so devastating to me right now. How must those people who have lost everything feel?
If you've made it this far...thank you for reading and peering into my psyche. If you want to add to it, and express your own feelings, please do.