Katrina People

I don't recall how the conversation started, but I found myself in a discussion with a workmate about the "Katrina people" and the effects of those displaced by hurricane Katrina on the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Katrina pushed people from the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama Gulf Coast inland. Some relocated as far away as Maine and Oregon.

The destruction caused by Katrina continues to effect the psyche of those that survived. Other than the lives lost, the most immediate effect of Katrina was economic. Thousands of uprooted people have flooded into other communities and while the economic impacts are obvious, the residual effects of Katrina people are yet to be fully realized.

My workmate had serious opinions about how the Katrina people were causing problems for Baton Rouge. Not that she thought anyone was malicious. She simply stated that an influx so large was bound to have a negative impact on any community. Baton Rouge just happened to be one with which she was intimately familiar and a community that, because of its proximity to New Orleans, was on the receiving end of a large number of refugees.

At this point in the conversation, my brain went AWOL. She kept using the words "Katrina people" and the more she said it, the harder I laughed. The picture in my mind was Night of the Living Dead. I saw hundreds of these zombie-like Katrina people, stumbling around, mumbling "Brains! Brains!"

I had to explain to her why I was laughing when she was being serious. Her response was that, while most were honest people, Baton Rouge had garnered the majority of deadbeats because of its proximity to New Orleans. Poorer people cannot afford to travel far. That made perfect sense. But now the movie in my mind starts playing a scene of the zombie Katrina people circling the Red Cross offices while shouting, "Checks! Checks!"

I asked her to please stop saying, "Katrina people." It didn't seem right. So the discussion turned to the politically correct term for those displaced. Refugee was ruled out, since it should only apply to people in foreign lands. It was determined that the politically correct word was "evacuee."

At this point I almost slid out of my chair. Evacuee?! No one was evacuated from New Orleans. They were left behind to their own devices. Evacuee implies that someone was removed before disaster struck. Despite the warnings, most people stayed in the path of Katrina and were not evacuated. Whether that was the government falling down or a personal decision, I'll leave to you.

There is an overwhelming sentiment of closing time at the bar when talking to people feeling the impact of these evacuees on their home towns. It's the "You don't have to go home but you can't stay here," sentiment. This same workmate has an Aunt who works for the Texas Department of Health and Human Services. One week after our conversation about the Katrina people, she relayed that she had spoken with said relative on the phone. The phrase "Katrina people" was bandied about by this state-employee/relative. My workmate's reply was sheer laughter which bought about the retelling of the story of the Katrina people and how the Katrina zombies ate her dog, forced her in-laws to shelter lesbian cousins, and the tragic tale of how lesbian dog-cousins ate her in-laws. FEMA has been contacted about cleaning up the mess left by the lesbian dog-cousins; none to worry.

Another close friend recently sold her house to the marauding Katrina people. It had been on the market for over a year when suddenly the Katrina people arrived at her door. This time the chant was, "Couch. Couch." These Katrina people had nothing in the way of possessions. She opened her heart and offered her entire living room suite as part of the deal. On moving day the deal was declined since someone donated something nicer than either seller or buyer had previously owned. What?! Profit from tragedy?! My rubbed eyes don't deceive me. It's the American way.

They don't have hurricanes in Greece, but allow me to digress. On a trip to Greece, my daughter spent several weeks teaching English as a second language to Greek immigrants. I ask why the Greek government wanted to teach English and not Greek to émigrés. Her answer was simple, "You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here." Katrina times nine time zones away! Your culture encroaches on mine and I don't need that. Please move on Katrina people. Don't make me shoot you in the head.

States for inches around Louisiana (I measured it on a map. Trust me; it's inches if not yards.) are feeling the strain of the souls displaced by Katrina. Texas especially having been hit itself by Rita. Some fear to return. Some have found better lives. Some long to return to better lives. None have much to return to at this time. Mississippi and Alabama, so often the butt of jokes, have rebuilt most of their losses while New Orleans languishes in the mire of bureaucratic stagnation.

Where shall we place the blame? Alabama and Mississippi have Republican governors while Louisiana is fully in the Democrat camp. Either George Bush is funneling money along party lines or the Democrats of Louisiana have no sense of fiscal responsibility. Before you cast your blame vote, consider that Ray Nagin, mayor of the Crescent City, turned down an offer from K&L Auto Crushers of Tyler, Texas where the company would have paid the city $5 million dollars for the privilege of removing the abandoned cars from New Orleans. Instead, car removal in New Orleans is now costing the city and in turn the American tax-payer $23 million.

Bureaucratic snafus and political wrangling continue to push the Katrina people on their slow migration to dryer, greener pastures. It is hard to spot some of these Katrina people. Some look just like you and me. Some have 42 inch plasma TV's bought with FEMA debit cards. Others are simply hard working people trying to pull their lives back together. Most are getting real help from local churches and volunteer groups rather than the government. Yes, charity really does begin at home and not the White House. Please, won't you help the Katrina people before they eat our brains?