11/20/2007

Presidential Debate NOT Coming to New Orleans -- A Shame

New Orleans received some bad news Monday when the commission that organizes the Presidential Debates for the upcoming election did not choose it as a host site for one of the scheduled debates in 2008.

Sponsors of the the effort to bring a debate to New Orleans next year were extremely frustrated and disappointed, and I think rightfully so, particularly when the reasoning is considered. I used to reference or throw up the link to more "news-type" stories on here, but have gotten away from that the past few months as most of it is negative and doesn't really help my or anyone else's main focus, which is to just help people keep moving forward in their recovery. I think that this story is worth noting, however. The Editorial that ran in the Tuesday, November 20 edition of The Times-Picayune puts things in proper context:

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/editorials/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1195570203231660.xml&coll=1

11/19/2007

"Yes, Scott". "You know, Scott".

“Yes, Scott. You know, Scott. You know what I mean, Scott. I’m telling you, Scott.”


I wish I could play a tape recording of the conversations I have with some of the residents I work with. For something that probably shouldn’t seem so unusual or in the least bit odd, I can’t seem to shake the fact that I’m intrigued by how many of them always use my name in conversation. Scott seems to be included at the end of just about every sentence. “Yes, Scott”. You know what I mean, Scott”. I don’t recall hearing my name so often in other places, or from other people, be it co-workers, or friends, or even family back home.

I’ve actually noticed this for awhile, and probably have waited to see if it’s unique to a select few residents, or was just a short term trend. But it’s not. In calling a couple of the residents I work with today, I got all of the above ‘Scott punctuated’ comments, and then some. I’m to the point now where I sit on my end of the phone smiling about it.

This probably makes no sense reading it. That’s why I wish I could play a recorded conversation. They’re priceless.

Speaking of conversations, one of the residents I spoke with today, Paula Balbon, was pretty upset. I just called to check in, say hello, see how things were going (I last saw her at the Distribution I had last Saturday), and Paula informed me how her husband Mike (a great guy, they’re both great people really; extremely happy and personable; see pic, top right) has been called off for a 7-month stint in California with the National Guard. Mike, 43, is a career military man who was in the army for years and has been in the Guard now for the last several. They didn’t see this coming, and now boom, he’s gone, seven months, and very unlikely to have a leave.

That’s what he signed up for, so they have to expect things like this to happen, but it is sort of sad in that Paula and Mike were just about ready to move back into their home in Chalmette back here in St. Bernard. When I met them a few weeks ago, it was at the house. They’ve worked hard to fix it back up, and it looks great. It’s all ready to go as far as the rehab, and they just needed furniture and household stuff to fill it with. We (SBRC) are going to help them with that. Last week, they picked up a bed and some chairs from our distribution.

Now, Paula is left to fend for herself until next June. The timing on this one sure stinks.

I’ll tell you what, a friend asked me tonight, what keeps me going, how I cope with the mayhem and some of the stuff I must see and be exposed to here. The answer to that is simple, these people keep me going. All the crap they’ve had to deal with, including being separated from a significant other, for whatever reason (can’t tell you how many couples I’ve met where one is living in one place during the week due to a job and the other is somewhere else), and they just keep persevering. Paula had a trace of sadness in her voice, no doubt, but in between the “You know, Scott”, and “I’m telling you, Scott”, she had her strength. She’ll do what she needs to do. I just hope to help her some more. The motivation to do that – that’s how I cope.