Good Reading

Dear America,
 
I  suppose we should introduce ourselves: We're South  Louisiana.
 
We  have arrived on your doorstep on short notice and we apologize for that,
but we  never were much for waiting around for invitations. We're not much on 
formalities like that.
 
And we might be staying around your  town for a while, enrolling in your
schools and looking for jobs, so we wanted  to tell you a few things about us. We
know you didn't ask for this and neither  did we, so we're just going to have
to make the best of  it.
 
First of all, we thank you. For your money, your water,  your food, your
prayers, your boats and buses and the men and women of your  National Guards, fire
departments, hospitals and everyone else who has come to  our rescue.
 
We're a fiercely proud and independent people,  and we don't cotton much to
outside interference, but we're not ashamed to  accept help when we need it.
And right now, we need it.
 
Just  don't get carried away. For instance, once we get around to fishing
again, don't  try to tell us what kind of lures work best in your  waters.
 
We're not going to listen. We're stubborn that  way.
 
You probably already know that we talk funny and listen  to strange music and
eat things you'd probably hire an exterminator to get out  of your yard.
 
We dance even if there's no radio. We drink at  funerals. We talk too much
and laugh too loud and live too large and, frankly,  we're
suspicious of others who don't.
 
But we'll try  not to judge you while we're in your town.
 
Everybody loves  their home, we know that. But we love South  Louisiana with
a ferocity that  borders on the pathological. Sometimes we bury our dead in
LSU  sweatshirts.
 
Often we don't make sense. You may wonder why,  for instance - if we could
only carry one small bag of belongings with us on our  journey to your state -
why in God's name did we bring a pair of shrimp  boots?
 
We can't  really explain that. It is what it is.
 
You've probably heard  that many of us stayed behind. As bad as it is, many
of us cannot fathom a life  outside of our border, out in that place we call 
Elsewhere.
 
The only way you could understand that is if you  have been there, and so
many of you have. So you realize that when you strip  away all the craziness and
bars and parades and music and architecture and all  that hooey, really, the
best thing about where we come from is  us.
 
We are what made this place a national treasure. We're  good people. And
don't be afraid to ask us how to pronounce our names. It  happens all the time.
 
When you meet us now and you look into  our eyes, you will see the saddest
story ever told. Our hearts are broken into a  thousand pieces.
 
But don't pity  us. We're gonna make it. We're resilient. After all, we've
been rooting for the  Saints for 35 years. That's got to count for something.
 
OK,  maybe something else you should know is that we make jokes at
inappropriate  times.
 
But what the hell.
 
And one more  thing: In our part of the country, we're used to having
visitors. It's our way  of life.
 
So when all this is over and we move back home, we  will repay to you the
hospitality and generosity of spirit you offer to us in  this season of our
despair.
 
That is our promise. That is our  faith.

Chris Rose
Times-Picayune

I believe with all of my heart that good will come from this conflagration.  Some day soon the Big Easy will be that once again.  Of course it won't be the same.  Change is inevitable.  New Orleans is not the city I once knew back in 1977, the last time I lived there, anymore than I am the man I was then. 

What can we do to help New Orleans clean up and revitalize?  First, let's demand that our government have a proper attitude about its role in our lives.  Despite the way Bush and the GOPers think that all the government is supposed to do is just keep the trough full, its real reason for being is to serve us, to coordinate our interactions, to keep order, to respond to our changing needs of it, and yes, too often, it's supposed to rescue us from both natural and man-made calamity.  Bush looked a bit dazed yesterday when he accepted responsibility for the comedy of errors which were the first two weeks.  Perhaps he is connected now.  I seriously doubt it.  However, New Orleans's recovery does not depend on Bush. 

It depends on the people of New Orleans and us.  We need to keep giving money.  Give to whichever organization gets your attention.  Give often.  This problem is going be be with us for years.  I'm proud of you folks who gave money to help get some of the critters out.  I'm also proud of the millions of people who volunteered to take people into their homes.  I'm proud of my cousin who opened his home to his sister and her family.  Well, he didn't actually open his home, she broke in, but he said it was alright after the fact.

New Orleans will be back.  She has made hertself too valuable to the entire country.  I doubt most Americans have a clue as to how much commerce is conducted at that port.  The tourist magnet, the French Quarter, is intact. And just as America needs New Orleans's port, so will the boys and girls of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas need to find a place to "sew their oats," so to speak. For over 200 years, New Orleans has been the place where boys and girls, men and women, men and men, lose themselves in alcohol, music, and good food, and get laid.  Oh America, we need at least one cheap, tawdry and sinful city, don't you think? 

 

Comments

[Peter]

Amen to that.

[Brenda]

Oh hell yeah!

[wanda]

"Oh America, we need at least one cheap, tawdry and sinful city, don't you think? "

Funny that's quite similiar to the way I've always thought of Nawlins too. She was the premier of Madams overlooking the brothel that called itself a city. Tawdry? Yes! Sinful? Hell yes!! Cheap? No way. She had class and substance snotty uptight bitches like Babs Bush could only dream of having. Men loved her and women wanted to be her.
Much like the South, she WILL rise again!!!

[oldwhitelady]

What a great post. I have nothing to say, other than that!