Crescent City is not on our itinerary, but we've spent the better part of two days in our Lisbon hotel room soaking in the horrific images and accounts over CNN International and our tenuous wi-fi connection.
I've only been to New Orleans once -- I stayed in a lovely, quiet hotel in the French Quarter and enjoyed the city's unique blend of history, merriment and hospitality. As I recall, it was one of the most beautiful parts of any American city I've seen before or since.
Like most tourist destinations, there's a sizable buffer between the famed attractions and pockets of poverty.
I have no words to convey my sorrow for the people who've lost loved ones and/or homes, but it seems callow to ignore the suffering we're watching from half a world away.
As soon as I woke up this morning, I reached for the laptop to see if there were any new developments. I wasn't expecting anything to have improved while we slept, but I didn't think things would get worse.
This line from a NYT article was particularly cringe-inducing:
Hoda Kotb, an NBC reporter, sounded bewildered as she described a sea of stranded victims, including a woman with a 10-day-old baby. "It's a scene out of another country," she said.At times, the scenes on television were so woeful they looked as if they could have been filmed in a former Soviet republic or Haiti. And that was how television correspondents put it. "This is not Iraq, this is not Somalia," said Martin Savidge of NBC. "This is home."
Both reporters are correct: these images evoke disasters in countries most Americans couldn't find on a globe with 5-minute head start and a magnifying glass.
In our travels, we've observed human beings hanging on to some of the lowest rungs on the ladder. People who sleep on sidewalks and traffic medians, suffer from preventable diseases, or are rebuilding lives after enduring disasters -- both natural and man-made.
I've seen kids pick through trash to find something of use, and I've had women tug at my clothing and beg me to buy milk for their children. I've put money in the palm of someone suffering from leprosy.
But nothing we've seen has prepared me for what's going on right now, in America.
Liz and I have talked about what we've seen, trying to make sense out of the heart-rending images and the lack of any coordinated, timely response by the federal government. We reached some pretty basic conclusions that have the ring of truth, and though I believe them to be accurate, I'm hesitant to voice them here.
There's enough ugliness out there; I don't need to pile on.
If you're in a position to help, please do.
Posted by Walter at September 2, 2005 03:14 PM