You can't argue with a storm. You can't argue with a dark light. You can't argue wth guys on power trucks about why they drive down the road past your home to work on someone else's road. And you can't argue with people whose power has returned and are trying to get their own lives back to relative normal. But that means you stand there, silently, incapable of changing anything and feeling helpless. This is a foreign feeling.
The crank radio reports that many have gotten their power back, using numbers that reflect "customers." This is a bit of sleight of hand, as "customer" refers to the name on the bill. The rest of the people living there don't exist. So if they say there are still 1.7 million customers without power ten days after the storm, multiply that number by the average household, maybe 2.4, and that reflects the number of cold people. Multiply it by two to get the number of cold hands. The temperature this mornng was in the upper 30s.
The radio offers either nasty and absurdly ridiculous poltical commercials or commercials of insurance companies and service providings who can help those who have suffered damage. They tell us to call their toll free number, or go online. Except we have no electricity, telephone or internet. But they care about us very deeply.
Press conferences by public officials fill the dead time between commercials. Each begins with 20 minutes of thanking each of other for their great work, and their apprecation of people whose job it is to do whatever they are doing. So they are getting paid and getting appreciation. It must be great to be a public official in a crisis.
Donations to American Red Cross are, as with past disasters, plentiful. The problem is that the American Red Cross takes in the money and doesn't use it for the purpose given. For all those ten dollar text donations, maybe a dollar or two is used for the crisis, with a few dollars going toward administrative fees, salary increases for their full time staff, new office furniture. The rest disappears. This happened after 9/11, Haiti, and every other major disaster. No one ever wonders where the money went after the noise dies down, but it never seems to find its way to its intended recipients.
On Imus this morning, he talked about how he went to Staten Island, and the Red Cross was nowhere to be found. And yet, donations pour in. Regardless, there will be nothing, whether Red Cross, FEMA or state aid, available for those whose suffering won't make a photo op. There never is. At least they may offer a cot and peanut butter and jelly sandwich to the homeless, like prison. For every $10,000 contributed to the Red Cross, another sandwich is offered. Kinda makes you feel all warm and good about yourelf, right?
The endless flow of guest-post requests, LinkedIn requests, Nigerian scams and legal marketing solicitations never seems to cease. Apparently, there is no loss of power in Bangalore. The readers who send me 37 links for possible posts daily, especiallng the ones about these horrific conspiracies where our government plans to feed us to aliens from Mars, continue unabated. They too never seem to lose power, or the hope that I will embrace their conspiracies in the few moments of internet access alotted to me.
No matter how well one prepares for problems, there are unanticipated needs that remain unmet. Clean clothing, for example. The washing machine doesn't work without power, no matter how hard you stare at it. Some folks probably have enough clothing to last a few weeks without washing. I do not. Crisp, starched collars are a distant memory now.
And towels don't dry in the cold. They stay damp, and get even colder. Cold, damp towels are remarkably unpleasant to use. Take my word on this. After a cold shower, or even a warm sponge bath, a dry towel would feel good.
We now see power company trucks fairly regularly, but they just keep driving past and out of view. They must be helping someone more important.
In my spare moments, I try to keep abreast of the blawgosphere. There is no shortage of stories of interest and importance, and I'm glad others out there are keeping the information and commentary flowing, even if I can't or won't. Maslow's Hierarchy has kicked in on my end, so staying warm takes precedence over the latest puppycide. And somebody says there is a presidential election coming soon.
Don't give to the Red Cross. Be charitable, if that's your way, but they don't need new office furniture, and Haiti remains a shambles despite the billions Red Cross took in. Because they just keep the money.
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Source: http://blog.simplejustice.us/2012/11/05/red-cross-and-other-catastrophic-curiosities.aspx?ref=rss
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