Some Whine With My Coffee

As I was reminded by our own weather this past weekend, it has been six years since the name "Katrina" came to mean something more than a version of "Katherine".

Six.  Years.

Seems incredible what has - and hasn't - changed in that span of time.

Did you know that the lawsuits that began shortly after Katrina slammed into the Gulf are still being argued in courts?  That it wasn't all that long ago that the "temporary trailers" meant to provide relief for a brief amount of time while rebuilding and relocating occurred were FINALLY hauled away?  It's so hard to believe.  I still glance at the online overhead map of Gulfport and Biloxi, just to virtually visit the streets, neighborhoods, and parks that I spent so many hours driving by.  Much has changed.  But, again, much has not.

And now we have had "Irene".  Our immediate area was spared any real hardship and I understand that the remainder of folks who live in my state will have power restored by the end of this week.  Honestly, the Awesome Boyfriend and I weren't put out at all by Irene's winds or rains whatsoever.  We *just missed* having one of our vehicles damaged by an awfully large chuck of tree - but that was really the only close call we had.  (For that matter, the tree chunk could have also fallen on the corner of the house too - but, again, it didn't.)  Irene was kind to us.

All that being said, it doesn't take a mental giant to say that Irene WAS quite a storm to our neighbors to the  North.  Flood waters have changed creeks to rivers, washed away roads and bridges and housing, caused fires and turned connected streets into virtual islands onto themselves.  The death toll started at four ... and then nine ... and then it was into the teens ... and now it has reached 40.  Damage estimates are between $5 billion and $7 billion.  I listened to those numbers as I pulled into the parking lot to get my coffee.  I tried to wrap my head around all those zeros as I stood in line.

My concentration of counting zeros (cut me some slack ... I was doing math with NO coffee in me yet) was broken as I became aware of a buzzing behind me.  A whiny, complaining sound ... "me me me me" it seemed to repeat.  There was a well-dressed man in the line behind me who was going on about how stupid all the warnings and cautions and advance preparation and evacuations had been.  About how, in the end, nothing storm-related had happened to anyone in his neighborhood and that Irene was very much ado about nothing at all.  A non-event.  About how put-upon he'd been to prepare during his precious down-time for a little bit of wind and rain that caused no damage whatsoever.

While he went on (and on and on and on), I thought to myself that perhaps he is a member of emergency personnel and, as such, was running on no sleep and had finally just lost his patience.  I thought that perhaps he has a family member fighting for their lives in a hospital and just needed something to vent about.  Maybe he is worried about his employment ... or had an ugly commute ...  In my mind, I gave him every excuse to behave so boorishly and I tried (not very hard but I DID try) to ignore his seeming disappointment at the lack of Irene-caused destruction.

As the line continued to move forward and we approached the counter, I recognized the employee running the register.  Being a regular at this establishment, I knew from our conversation the previous day that she lived with her parents and that they'd lost power early Saturday morning.  When we spoke Monday, she said the power company told her that they'd do their best to restore it soon but to prepare for being without power for the week.  Looking at her lack of usual makeup and not-as-neatly-coiffed hairstyle, I guessed that she was still without power.

I was just one person away from paying for my order when I heard the comment "honestly, this whole storm-centered weekend was a complete waste of  my energy.  I'd sue someone for the loss of my personal time because of this 'non-storm' if I could."  And hearing that did it.  Hearing that released my "whiny moron response button".  With the fresh estimated damage cost and death toll data still swirling in my head and the image of this cashier and her family losing their hot showers and stored refrigerated food for the week, I handed her my personal cup for my order and then turned around to meet the scowling unhappy gaze of this man ... the source of the unending monologue of woe.

"I heard this morning", I said with as much of an expressionless face I could muster, "that the death toll is 40 and probably rising and the damage estimate is between $5 to $7 billion. How many people would have needed to die for it to have been a more 'worthwhile' storm for you?"


I honestly did want a response.  I wasn't trying to shut him down completely and I really wasn't passing any judgement upon him.  I'm sure his neighborhood WAS completely untouched and that is it totally possible he had no idea that lives were lost and that massive property damage had occurred.  I actually was asking for his parameters because I was curious - at what body count number or dollar amount would his preparation been worthwhile to him?

Unfortunately I'll never know.  My coffee order was ready and he had walked to the opposite corner of the waiting line area without a response.