The new look in town......
I could make a list of many of the things that have changed in this city, but some of them are not so easy to identify. Some of the changes you just..feel. A story on last night's local news helped me clarify something I've been noticing around town yet hadn't been able to put my finger on. This particular news segment was on how all income levels had been impacted by Katrina in similar ways. One of the ways being that everyone left their homes with few personal belongings -- thinking, of course, that they would return in a couple of days. So naturally leaving home in August you wouldn't bring any warm clothes with you. And last week it was pretty chilly down here. Which means there were many people tying to stretch their already dwindling resources even further to find warm clothes for themselves and their families.
An Old Navy store in an unscale location opened its doors last night to many teenage Katrina evacuees and gave each teen $100 dollars to spend. What fun, huh? Give a teenage girl a $100 limit and turn her lose in a fun store. Wouldn't you expect lots of squealing, laughing, smiling.... But that's not what I saw on tv last night. I saw young people who didn't seem to have the energy to be excited at the prospect of picking out new clothes. One girl told about how the family had kidded her brother about bringing almost everything he owned when they evacuated. Now, they said, he was the lucky one.
Then it struck me. I realized what it was I'd been seeing around town on childrens' faces, in their eyes -- the look that makes you do a double take yet can't quite put your finger on what's wrong. What's wrong, I realized, it that we have too many children here who are old before their time.
posted by ellesu at 7:08 PM
5 Comments:
Oh, the last sentence really got to me!!
~Deb
4:48 PM
Hi Deb....I guess these kids are learning to live with what's happened to them. The few I've been in contact with seem to just be trying to get through the immediate present -- not much time/energy/resources to think about the future yet. Kind of like treading water. They want to go to college yet they must find somewhere to finish this school year and....try and catch up on all they've missed. And they are trying to handle all this in such unstable environments -- living in hotels or sleeping on realatives' floors.
I know my son's college classes are really piling it on as they try and catch up. He'll throw the book down and say he just can't make it this year -- he'll catch up next year. And....he still has his home and and all his stuff.
I hope it gets easier for them soon....
Sigh! Sorry for all the long-winded replys. I just can't seem to keep it short and sweet lately.
3:22 PM
That is really upsetting. And yet you bring up such a critical point. There must be so much post traumatic stress disorder going on.
Those poor kids. Our school is buying clothes for kids at an elementary school in New Orleans. I was asked to buy a uniform for a boy size 8. I bought him all that I could within the parameters of the dress code. But I still wondered if he would like them - and that he didn't have much of a choice right now but to wear them.
I remember how you said that christmas was right around the corner...
4:29 PM
How can you keep things short and weet, when so much is long and painful where you are????
Peace and love to you and all,
Deb
5:47 AM
A lot of people are trying very hard to bring New Orleans back, and to bring back many cities along the Gulf. But at this moment in time it's individuals, not FEMA, not the Red Cross, not any government agency (although I think they are doing their best... now), but it's individuals that are making a difference.
It's families around the country who are having garage sales, making and selling bowls of gumbo, holding fundraisers for their loved ones living along the Gulf trying to reclaim their lives. Individuals like you evi buying school uniforms, and you Deb opening your office to those in need....it's individuals who are saving people right now.
So, in keeping with Deb's last post about focusing on what's 'right' with people, there is a lot of good positive energy coming our way. That's got to count for something.
6:41 PM
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