Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Floodlands
The pictures and video coming out of the Gulf Coast States are amazing, and sad. It really ticks me off, though, how many people are having to be rescued from the roofs of their homes in areas where they ignored mandatory evacuation notices. I think when the lift is lowered down from the helicopter, there should be a ticket from the police department attached to it, fining them for wasting taxpayer's money and the time of volunteers that could otherwise be helping where needed, instead of helping people too stupid to do the right thing in the first place.
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over on the TVBarn discussion paged someone made a reference to the fact CourtTV was airing two episodes of "Cops" shot in New Orleans. It's coincidence of course... it's just the order of their syndication deal. Naturally, someone named Tom made fun of the fact, then some other whack job told Tom he was disrespectful and should shut up. My response:
We make fun of men because they're men, women because they're women, fat people, blondes, New Yorkers (before and after 9/11, though the style has changed), Southern Californians (of which I'm included), the French, the Irish, the Polish (of which I am included), drunks (of which I used to be included and probably will be again one day), midgets, gays, the one-armed drummer from Def Leppard, and guys named Dick, and it can be argued that all of these people found themselves
stuck in the situation/condition which serves as the source of levity through no fault of their own. I've heard white guys tell a joke about black people with no offense intended and none taken by black
listeners (Ted Danson's blackface routine during Whoopi's roast years ago is a known example... the backlash came from people who didn't witness his act, or from white people who felt they should be outraged on behalf of black people who couldn't have cared less). But the Bayou is off limits?
Back in the late 1980s, my parents bought a house in the Southern Californian city of Corona. The house was in a development located in a flood control basin protected by a dam constructed before I was born. Even as a teenager (al-be-it a mouthy one), I remarked at the time what a stupid idea it was to build homes in that location, as it was only a matter of time. Last winter, during our state's near-record rainfall, the dam burst and the housing development was evactuated. Fortunately, the damage was minimal (no lives were lost) and upgrades to the dam have occurred which will delay but not prevent the destruction of my former home.
From the news broadcasts during the hurricane, I learned what I'm sure many already knew... that New Orleans is a city built below sea level, protected by water channels, dams, and the like. One day, maybe not today but one day, New Orleans will be a coral reef, entirely submerged. A common joke uttered by non-Californians about Californians is how stupid we are for living on a major fault line (several major fault lines, actually). Californians can't really argue that, but we do usually mention that we'd rather endure a little shake every few years than tornados, blizzards... or hurricanes.
I guess my point is this: Tom didn't disrespect those affected, but I will. If my family was stupid (and we were, there's no way to deny that) for buying a home in a flood control basin in an earthquake-prone area, what does that make someone who lives in a city below sea level which is prone to hurricanes?
I feel for the people of New Orleans, and for all the people affected by Katrina. I wish no harm ever came to anyone ever, but it turns out the Easter Bunny isn't real and Christopher Reeve wasn't really Superman. Humor is a release for many of us. I've made jokes at the funerals of friends that would make the dead blush. If you don't like it, delete the email from your inbox, but don't ask someone to shut up.
I really can't wrap my brain around losing everything... those people who are basically incarcerated in one of the domes.
I say if Canal Street is now actually a canal, make the best of it. Since Venice, Italy is sinking, the world needs another silly boat-based city to serve as a novelty tourist attraction.
Especially since losing 24 square miles of wetlands a year means less and less of a buffer and warmer and warmer ocean temperatures means meaner and meaner storms, rebuilding without raising the city (Seattle, anyone?) is just folly.
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