I am a Los Angeles-based twentysomething. I have a profession, and I have a secret life in music, and this blog isn't about any of that. I like Blogger because I can't read what you're thinking.
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Friday, September 2
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FRAGILE ON A FRIDAY
I'm trying my best to stray away from topical news stories on this blog. It's hard, though. It really is. I want the blog to be your source of a laugh over some vulgar language. I want it to be the highlight of your morning surf. I don't want it to be the blame of anyone's sadness, though.
But I can't help but mention the grief I felt last night over the images I saw on the hurricane that has flooded a good portion of the South, primarily the surrounding areas of New Orleans. I saw images of dead bodies floating, I saw babies without food, I saw children unaware of the magnitude of the entire situation. I saw riots. I saw looters. And I'm sure you all saw them too, unless you're a fucking asshole who doesn't give a shit about anyone but yourself.
We're all so goddamn distracted by the stupid petty shit in our lives that it takes a tragedy like this to make us realize that the things we are most concerned about is actually stupid petty shit. We think we're so fucking armored that nothing will ever happen to our fantastic nation -- but something occasionally does. And there's nothing we can do to stop the inevitable force that is Mother Nature.
I will do my part in the financial aid, but I wonder if anyone else will. It hurts to know that some people will not even bother sacrificing a little bit for some good.
It really sucked last night -- I got out of a hot shower. I shaved with my new shaving lotion and razor. I drank a big glass of orange juice. I checked the e-mail. I talked to The Girlfriend over a broadband phone. I drowned myself in a bed of sheets. I dozed away under air conditioning, set at 76 degrees.
I did this knowing that just down the 10 Freeway, heading east, were thousands of people without an inch of hope.
An entire city is gone, people. It's going to take years before a large majority of its citizens get back to where they were just before Sunday.
It's horrible to think that politics is even an issue. Partisanship is the stupidest thing to argue about at a time like this, but the talking head rhetoric is just as inevitable as a natural disaster. Though I have to say that I can't believe there are jobs to be taken care of, but they're not being executed quickly enough. We can do so, so much better than this.
Sucks, doesn't it?
It really does.
If you're reading this, you're probably going to sleep in a nice bed tonight. You're going to eat three meals, and you're going to smile. Enjoy whatever fragile life we all have.
And please, do your part. If you don't, I hope you fucking rot in hell.
• American Red Cross, 800-HELP NOW (435-7669) English, 800-257-7575 Spanish.
• Operation Blessing, 800-436-6348.
• America's Second Harvest, 800-344-8070.
• Adventist Community Services, 800-381-7171.
• Catholic Charities, USA, 703-549-1390.
• Christian Disaster Response, 941-956-5183 or 941-551-9554.
• Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, 800-848-5818.
• Church World Service, 800-297-1516.
• Convoy of Hope, 417-823-8998.
• Lutheran Disaster Response, 800-638-3522.
• Mennonite Disaster Service, 717-859-2210.
• Nazarene Disaster Response, 888-256-5886.
• Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, 800-872-3283.
• Salvation Army, 800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769).
• Southern Baptist Convention — Disaster Relief, 800-462-8657, ext. 6440.
• United Methodist Committee on Relief. 800-554-8583.
Have a safe weekend. Take care of yourselves.
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