Comments on: My Big Fat New Orleans Mission, Part III http://iwassaying.net/2009/10/18/my-big-fat-new-orleans-mission-part-iii/ Chatter, memories and rants. Please, don't stop me if you've heard this one before. Sat, 07 Aug 2010 12:47:26 -0400 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: doctorj2u http://iwassaying.net/2009/10/18/my-big-fat-new-orleans-mission-part-iii/comment-page-1/#comment-4818 doctorj2u Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:55:15 +0000 http://iwassaying.net/?p=826#comment-4818 I have heard that comment about not rebuilding that cesspool probably 10,000 times since the storm. It has made me hate my own country. Is this what America has become? Is this its trur heart? Selfish, compassionless? That is one of the reasons the volunteers are so important to the healing of the heart of New Orleans. You tell us that we matter and that the country I once KNEW existed, is still out there somewhere. I will die fighting for my city and its culture. It is precious and must be preserved. I just wish my own country felt that way. I have heard that comment about not rebuilding that cesspool probably 10,000 times since the storm. It has made me hate my own country. Is this what America has become? Is this its trur heart? Selfish, compassionless? That is one of the reasons the volunteers are so important to the healing of the heart of New Orleans. You tell us that we matter and that the country I once KNEW existed, is still out there somewhere. I will die fighting for my city and its culture. It is precious and must be preserved. I just wish my own country felt that way.

]]> By: Darlene http://iwassaying.net/2009/10/18/my-big-fat-new-orleans-mission-part-iii/comment-page-1/#comment-4781 Darlene Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:42:03 +0000 http://iwassaying.net/?p=826#comment-4781 You have made a very important point about being judgmental. It's so easy to tell someone else what to do when we don't have a clue as to what is going on in their life. I confess that my first reaction was that they should not rebuild New Orleans in the same flood prone area, but I now agree with you. I wouldn't want to move away from my familiar neighborhood if the wash behind my property were to flood. You have made a very important point about being judgmental. It’s so easy to tell someone else what to do when we don’t have a clue as to what is going on in their life.

I confess that my first reaction was that they should not rebuild New Orleans in the same flood prone area, but I now agree with you. I wouldn’t want to move away from my familiar neighborhood if the wash behind my property were to flood.

]]> By: Elizabeth http://iwassaying.net/2009/10/18/my-big-fat-new-orleans-mission-part-iii/comment-page-1/#comment-4778 Elizabeth Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:12:35 +0000 http://iwassaying.net/?p=826#comment-4778 I think I felt a version of what you're describing when I saw the non-white working poor up close in the "ghetto" neighborhoods of Brooklyn. I heard a lot that those people just need to learn English and get their acts together, as if entry into the Anglo-American middle class would be simple, inevitable even, if they would just stop being so lazy and so damn loud. What I found is that it's pretty easy to dish out one size fits all solutions and petty advice to people whose faces and stories you don't know. The problem is, in its ease, that way of thinking about people and their struggles is thoughtless and shabby. Thanks for the reminder. I think I felt a version of what you’re describing when I saw the non-white working poor up close in the “ghetto” neighborhoods of Brooklyn. I heard a lot that those people just need to learn English and get their acts together, as if entry into the Anglo-American middle class would be simple, inevitable even, if they would just stop being so lazy and so damn loud.

What I found is that it’s pretty easy to dish out one size fits all solutions and petty advice to people whose faces and stories you don’t know. The problem is, in its ease, that way of thinking about people and their struggles is thoughtless and shabby. Thanks for the reminder.

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