By Staff
Simple things we take for granted every day, like being able to get a drink of water when we are thirsty or having a bed to sleep in have been washed away for so many people due to the hurricane Katrina.
I remember once my parents and I were in WaWa, Canada and there weren't any rooms in the inn, or any motels in the area.
My dad couldn't drive any more and a family took us in and fed us and gave us beds for the night.
As young as I was that gift of kindness at a time of need has stuck with me all these years.
Now around me I see those as far away as Michigan reaching out to the families left homeless by the destruction in the south from the hurricane.
That community spirit that we are all one I hope will make our country better after this tragedy is past.
We heard about looting and snipers. Still, for the most part it was just a few who turned to violence. Those people will be with us always, taking advantage and having no sense of right or wrong.
The pictures on the television are hard to continue to watch. Just the thought of the conditions which these people were in, and continue to be in, are enough to make anyone sick.
I can't even imagine the smells at the shelters, at the dome or in the streets of New Orleans.
I heard an interview of a young policeman who was rescuing people who had not listened when told to evacuate.
Some still refused to leave their meager possessions and damaged homes. "You will die," he told them, from the toxic waters surrounding their homes. Still the people refused to leave. The unknown was more terrible than the state of no water and food in which they were presently in.
Still the young policeman was tolerant of the old man, and of his two fellow officers who shot themselves from the stress, and also the many who put down their badges and walked off the New Orleans force.
The gentle acceptance of their decisions surprised me and also taught me a lesson. We are not the ones to judge.
Who knows if we would have listened to the authorities and left everything. Maybe we also would have thought it won't be so bad.
From our armchairs it is easy to say "what fools." Why can't they drop supplies, or how did all this happen?
Maybe we should be more tolerant of all those involved. One day it may be us who are judged.