11:05 a.m. - 2005-08-31
it's just stuff
OK. I need to talk about this hurricane.
First of all, it is important to point out, as some news sources have failed to, that many of the people who "ignored evacuation orders" are POOR. They didn't have a car to hop on the interstate with. They didn't have gas money to fill their tank with. Interestingly, many people on public assistance receive their checks at the beginning of the month..this hurricane struck at the end of the month when poeple in those situations tend to be out of money until the first of the next month.
That being said, the people who stayed behind and could have left are idiots. That prideful, "the storm can't make me leave" bullshit costs lives and money. Rescuers put their own lives in danger to retrieve these jerks from rooftops who thought it would be "interesting" to stay in the storm's path. I can't imagine how the blindsided tsunami victims of southeast asia, who had absolutely no warning, must feel seeing that Americans, who have plenty of warning systems, technology, etc at our fingertips...and DAYS of time to prepare and evacuate...imagine those who lost all family members, children, parents in the tsunami...how they must feel when they see our prideful defiance of the forces of nature.
The other thing I have to talk about is property loss. When I see people crying about losing their house, I want to vomit. I see people looking at their house that is no more, devastated. They wander numbly around the rubble in total shock.
First of all, I have lost virtually everything I owned TWICE. Once when I was 8 and my family's house literally exploded. And once when I was 22 and a senior in college and my bedroom caught on fire from a reading lamp. In each situation, death was footsteps and moments away. If I had left the house two minutes later in 1987, I would not be here now. If my roomate had not accidentally set an alarm for 6:30am on a saturday, we both would have died from smoke inhalation. When these things happen, the ONLY appropriate response is pure gratitude that no one was hurt.
I know, the first time it happens, (and granted, the vast majority of people do not have this happen to them once, let alone, twice) it IS shocking. It IS scary. It IS upsetting and sad. There IS a feeling of loss. But when you have the perspective that you and your family were whatever you want to call it (lucky, blessed, fortunate, spared), you realize that stuff is just that....STUFF.
I've seen people's entire day ruined because they stained a favorite shirt or lost an earring. I think sometimes people think I am not as careful with things as I should be...admittedly, I have been one to return a book in slightly more ragged condition that it was when I first borrowed it. And I'm not saying that treating other people's stuff poorly is a virtue by any means. But I think I am deeply in touch with the fact that material things are relatively meaningless when compared to relationships and people in general. That's why I don't choose to do laundry when someone's invited me to dinner even though the laundry is overflowing. I don't spend a lot of time cleaning and polishing and I can't imagine forking over a lot of money for a couch. It's not that I don't like to be comfortable and for my guests to be comfortable...I do value that. But because of my experiences in this, I operate from the standpoint that those things are one accident away from not existing anymore. And so are we. And I'd rather hang out with you while you're here and I'm here than scrub the tile in the bathroom with a toothbrush.
That said, I realize there is a balance needed here, and I often have to remind myself that cleaning and decorating and taking care of my various items has its place. But I wonder how different the reactions on the news of people who have just lost everything, if they hadn't spent so much money on that dining room set and spent so much of their life with a can of furniture polish in their hand.
