Good news from the French Quarter

[alfreda89]

You know how there are a couple of very insensitive people suggesting
that God hit New Orleans with Katrina to punish them for being such
hedonists? These horrible people, mostly fundamentalist preachers, are
going to be very shocked to find out God apparently loves Mardi Gras.

Here's a report directly from the French Quarter. Writer Darlene
Bolesny left for Lafayette, but Bob Aspirin and apparently a mutual
friend and longtime SF enthusiast, Todd Brantley, stayed in the quarter.
Darlene has been asking people to pass on the news, so here goes:

- There are about 300 - 500 people left in the Quarter and all of
them are doing fine.

- They have plenty of canned food (and manual can openers) and they
have plenty of bottled water. Bob mentioned that he still has 3,
2-liter bottles of soda to go through before he has to resort to
water.

- Most of the French Quarter is and has been dry all along. The
highest the water came for them, even during the height of the storm,
was up to the curbs. The area in which Bob lives and which also
contains my condo did not even take any wind damage - other than the
two trees which fell on either side of the "throw me somethin'" Jesus
at the Cathedral. He said that one chimney in the Quarter had
fallen, but that was it.

- There has been no uncontrolled looting in the Quarter, and no
roving groups of folks with guns in the Quarter. So they are safe
and they have plenty of food and water.

- One of the most amazing things that Bob told me was that they are
still getting deliveries of cold beer at the one and only bar in the
Quarter which has remained open (Johnny White's). Lord only knows how
they are getting it through.

- The police and the national guard and the military know that they
are there. But with the situation in the rest of the City, they (the
quarter--kek) are very low priority for evacuation.

- Bob is aware that, as soon as it is practical, he should (and will)
leave. He is aware that there is a risk of fire and that he should
be mindful of that risk. Should fires break out in the Quarter, he
can make his way down to Harrahs, which is the police command post.
(So he does have a plan, should fire break out.)

- In the meantime, they will sit tight and wait for the authorities
to come through and tell them that it is time to leave. The most
annoying thing to Bob is that it is boring and he can't flush his
toilet.

So the people God supposedly hath smited are almost untouched
by the troubles, taking care of each other and riding out the
long wait until they can leave or services are restored. Since
the city won't be functional for months, I'm sure that this time
they'll leave. But I am grateful my friends are safe--and happy
that the Quarter lives, even if New Orleans has suffered a
hideous blow.

Comments

[beth-bernobich.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you for posting that. Amid all the terrible reports, it's good to hear something hopeful.

[vincam.livejournal.com]

You know how there are a couple of very insensitive people suggesting
that God hit New Orleans with Katrina to punish them for being such
hedonists?

Someone says it every time anything ever happens anywhere. I wonder why people even repeat that crap any more.

Good to hear the French Quarter has been more or less spared.

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

I did hear this morning that there's a woman with a leg wound who needs to be taken out, because it's going septic. I hope the military will buzz by and pick her up. Otherwise, the French Quarter has folks guarding things and waiting their turn.

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

Someone says it every time anything ever happens anywhere. I wonder why people even repeat that crap any more.

I wonder the same thing. Can they really believe it? But a recent survey says half the country believes in the creation myth as the beginning of the world.

(I suddenly had this wild vision of a mother telling her child that no, he can't have that book because dinosaurs don't exist.)

[jacardie.livejournal.com]

Ye gods. I can't believe some of the stupid things people say, not to mention the un-Christian attitudes of some so-called Christians.. :rolling eyes:

[vincam.livejournal.com]

I wonder the same thing. Can they really believe it?

Of course, they can. It's a common, comforting response to chaos. How many times have you thought to yourself, "Well, this can't happen to me because I (fill in the blank)"?

But a recent survey says half the country believes in the creation myth as the beginning of the world.

Lies, damn lies, and statistics. Surveys are made to prove what the surveyor wants to prove. I don't believe for a nanosecond that this survey is correct in the sense that half the country doesn't believe in evolution.

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

But a recent survey says half the country believes in the creation myth as the beginning of the world.

Lies, damn lies, and statistics. Surveys are made to prove what the surveyor wants to prove. I don't believe for a nanosecond that this survey is correct in the sense that half the country doesn't believe in evolution.

I dearly hope you're right, because I'm too old and poor to be a good candidate for emigration. Surely we are still a people of common sense and hope, if nothing else?

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

Lately I have wept for my religion, which is becoming harder and harder to defend. It's like being a witch and calling yourself a Wiccan, because it's too late to resurrect the word "witch" from where it's fallen.

[jacardie.livejournal.com]

I guess it just proves that stupidity knows no boundaries. :/