My apologies in advance for the long posting. Sometimes, when stuff piles up inside, there’s a lot to say when I start writing….
I’ve been waiting until today to blog about Katrina. It’s been hard to make sense of it. Like the proverbial onion that has many layers, each day seems to bring another layer to the story of Katrina. Until last Friday, I had only been reading the newspaper accounts–no TV. It’s easier to be detached with words and images on paper. When I started watching TV, the images were incomprehensible, surreal. Then I started reading posts from an on-line community of coaches—individuals wanting to do something but not knowing where to start. Here’s what I’m noticing:
- Catastrophes, whether natural or man-made, bring out the best and the worst in people. So many stories of people offering up whatever they have to the hurricane survivors and a few stories of what a society without law and order can stir up in others. The best and the worst are just below the surface of our society every day. What would it take to bring out the best everyday, without the aid of a catastrophic event like Katrina?
- Catastrophes remind me of how many different ways we can view the world. The aftermath of Katrina provided mainstream media with a story that can be approached from a thousand perspectives—political, economic, social, geographical, governmental, commercial. Out of these perspectives come stories about lost families, reunited families, rising gas prices, levee construction, emergency preparedness, shipping channels, washed out swamp land, looting, boat rescues, makeshift morgues, flood insurance, National Guard troops, deployment of military equipment. The list goes on. Catastrophes are by definition so pervasive that everyone can relate to at least one perspective. The collective shared experience becomes thousands of individually shared experiences.
- Catastrophes create a new standard for political correctness. Last week, I had several things I wanted to blog about, none of which were related to Katrina. Yet questions popped up in my head. If I blog about a posting on another blog about made-up words will I be seen as insensitive? What is the purpose of keeping focused on my part of the world when something as large as Katrina has captured the attention of an entire nation? Actually, it occurred to me that how I serve best is to keep focused on my part of the world. People need to see the extraordinary in the ordinary, not just in quiet times but also in tumultuous times. We can get sucked into the real drama of rescue operations and forget that we are in the here and now, impacting our own corner everyday. Still, my fears around political correctness got the better of me and I decided to hold off on any other postings until I had done this one.
- Political correctness gives others the false impression that there is a right way to react to a catastrophe. In reality, there is no right way, only individual ways. I noticed Google put up a black ribbon on their page soon after Katrina hit (no pun intended) to allow users to contribute money. Other groups quickly got into the same mode of collecting on behalf of Katrina survivors—from grocery stores to Boy Scout troops to radio stations. This is all good. What I found offensive was a posting on a blog last week where the blogger was chastising a university website for doing a “flyover.” In the blogger’s words, “no mention of Katrina, but [the site] had handy links to a dental study on enamel proteins and to a performance art piece about being, umm, underwater.” The blogger went on to note that she made a few calls to friends and sent a note to the university to complain and “voila: a Katrina link is up front and center this morning, and the art listing is gone.” Will this same person tell her best friend how much she should cry for the dead and donate to the survivors? It struck a chord in me that has yet to dissipate….
- Maslow’s hierarchy is with us all the time. Being college-educated in Western society, I skipped past the first level of Maslow’s hierarchy—the need for basic survival. Food, water, shelter. To see so many people move back to that survival level is eye-opening. In that light, I understand the panic to get on a bus leaving the Superdome, the decision to drop water from helicopters instead of landing, and the looting of stores for food and water. I think I would do the same.
- Our needs on Maslow’s hierarchy are not the needs of those lower down the scale. At an on-line discussion with fellow coaches, the topic had been how to donate our coaching skills to survivors, to put their lives back together. This discussion went on for several days. Finally on Sunday, one of the coaches with a view into “ground zero” posted a message. Having moved away from her hometown of New Orleans last year to Birmingham, and seeing what her friends and family were now needing, she put some reality back into the discussion. “These people need help feeding, clothing and providing shelter for their families. They need help getting their kids in school, applying for emergency food stamps, doing insurance claims, applying for FEMA assistance … and these are the lucky ones…I’d rather see you show up with a bag of hand me downs or info on an area where I can get housing and a ride there, instead of offering me free coaching.” Certainly coaching will be useful to survivors, but not until their need for basic survival has been met.
- Catastrophes create a new language in society. The name Katrina is intertwined with this past week’s images and stories—it’s not just the name of a
girl or woman any more. Just like 9/11 is no longer just a date. Levees, New Orleans, Superdome—all have new meaning after last week. There will be references in the future to all of these. We will all understand the short hand because we have experienced the real thing (or at least as real as it can get with the Internet, television, radio, and newspapers.)
I’m sure there will be lots more that I notice, but for now, that’s enough. What did you
notice this past week?
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Oooh boy, does your post and that question stir up a lot of stuff for me. My
temptation is to just be politically correct and keep it all to myself, but
since you asked 🙂
* I noticed that I felt really angry last week when so much of the TV coverage I
saw was about ‘cornering’ the officials who were on TV into pointing fingers at
another official or organization, or about admitting blame themselves. I feel
like we are such a ‘blame-oriented’ culture, especially at times like this. Of
course there is a time to learn about how well the response and our actions
worked (or didn’t), in a certain spirit of improvement, but I felt angry at the
stations because I thought it would have been a much better use of the airwaves,
instead of what they did, to use the time to air brief video messages of people
letting others know they were alive, or of people searching for loved ones, etc.
* I noticed that someone accused a blogger I read daily of doing a ‘flyover’ on
the hurricane, too, and that it stirred up an incredible firestorm in the
comments, with people taking sides on both camps of the fence. I noticed that
when someone chastised the person who wrote the first comment, and wrote, ‘I
just hate judgmental people,’ I had to laugh at the irony, and notice my own
judgments about it, too, and how it’s a never-ending loop. I noticed that it is
SO very much in my nature to abhor conflict and seek harmony at all costs …
that conflict makes me very uncomfortable … that I see it as being so very
unnecessary and a total waste of time because life is so short and precious …
but I also notice how that philosophy can be my own form of a cop-out in certain
situations.
* I noticed (and continue to notice) that it makes me really angry when I hear
comments like, ‘this shouldn’t happen in America,’ or, ‘these are Americans …
this shouldn’t happen to Americans,’ or, ‘we’re the wealthiest nation in the
world and we should take better care of our own,’ and all the variations on that
theme. I know what people are trying to say, but it makes me angry because I
think, ‘ … but why SHOULDN’T it happen in America? Do we think we’re exempt
from this kind of disaster? It *shouldn’t* happen anywhere, but it does, because
we are not almighty after all, even if we want to think we can be.’ What about
the thousands of people that die every single day in Africa, or in other parts
of the world? Why aren’t we up in arms about that … going on TV and demanding
that something be done about that? The comments I hear make me feel like some
people are saying or implying that the lives of people outside America are less
valuable somehow.
* I noticed that some people expressed embarrassment about what the rest of the
world will think (or thinks) of America now … and I think, maybe the rest of
the world should finally realize that there are poor people in America, that
America is not perfect and that there are social issues here … and that not
every American is rich or arrogant.
* On that theme, I noticed that when I read comments on other blogs that painted
a broad brush of ‘Americans’ as being too self-absorbed or ‘comfy in their
consumer-driven lifestyles,’ that I got really angry … that I was sure those
people wouldn’t like it if someone made a comment about how ‘all _______ (inset
their nationality, etc.) are ________.’ Any time a group of people is lumped
under one adjective, it feels so detrimental to all of us … like it brings
everyone down to a lower level. I get angry at some of the media coverage
overseas that doesn’t paint a balanced picture, and that some people then form
their opinions about Americans as a group (or other ethnic groups) on that. I
was not born in the U.S., but have lived here for 35 years now, having moved
here when I was 8, and perhaps that has shaped a different or more inclusive
worldview for me, but I notice that ‘nationalistic’ comments of any kind really
stir stuff up for me. I want to shout, ‘People, wake up! There’s only one race
… the human race … and unless we get that and stand for each other,
regardless of nationality, etc., we’re missing the boat!’ I notice that I can
love and cherish this country and the freedoms it supports, and still hold that
broader view that we are all important, regardless of what country we call home
… that the two thoughts are not mutually exclusive. I hope I live to see more
of the man-made walls that keep us separated come down in my lifetime.
* I noticed (or perceived) that when people were criticizing the rescue efforts
last week, that I didn’t hear anyone say, ‘hey, let’s not be critical of them
… these people are out there working hard and they need all of our support
right now, and criticizing them will only demoralize them’ … which is what
some people say about our troops in Iraq. I wondered why that was.
* I noticed that some of the views expressed last week had an undercurrent of
believing that it’s the government’s responsibility to take care of us and that
no matter what happens, they should make everything okay again ASAP, like a
parent with a child. I noticed that it seemed to shake some people’s foundations
and stir up really deep fears about safety and wellbeing … that if it’s not
the government’s job to make everything okay, or that if they can’t, then what?
That thought seems to leave some people totally really shaken (not the word I’m
looking for, exactly, but as close as I can find).
* I noticed that I am feeling more ungrounded about all this this week than last
week … and that it’s harder to work and keep my focus. Perhaps last week the
scales were tipped more towards the anger I was feeling at all of the above, and
to the ‘big picture’ view of the disaster, and this week, the stories are down
on the ground, and really personal, and it breaks my heart to see or read about
what people are going through. I noticed that I could not make myself turn off
the TV or change the channel, either.
* I noticed that when I imagined the possibility of ever having to evacuate our
home and face the possibility of never going back, that there were very few
physical possessions I would really feel compelled to take … besides us and
the dogs, it comes down to my computer, my digital camera, a few important
papers, perhaps some pictures, and some clothes to get by for a while. I noticed
that this is all in theory, and that I have NO idea whatsoever what it would
really feel like, or how I would respond … that it’s so much easier in the
abstract, always, and that I might in fact discover that I’m actually a lot more
attached to my stuff than I perceive myself to be (and even though I work at
that detachment) … but that that’s no reason to not think about it or prepare
for the possibility, even if only mentally.
* I noticed that alongside the destruction and devastation, and the ‘worst’ of
human behavior, there is also incredible kindness, compassion, and love. There
is immeasurable courage and goodwill and caring. People donating money,
volunteering at shelters, opening their homes, taking time to listen to the
stories, leading fundraising efforts, etc. I notice that unless I put as much
focus on that, and on all the miracles there are to be found in my own
day-to-day life, I can be completely overtaken by my own grief and sadness, and
that it’s a tough balance to keep some days.
* I notice that I want to do more, and not just for this event, but all the
time, in whatever small ways or big ways I can, because as you wrote, it’s not
only about responding like this when crisis hits … there is crisis every day
in so many people’s lives, in so many places … and that when things like this
happen, I always hope that a little bit of the experience seeps into the
collective consciousness so that maybe we can live our everyday lives from a
different place from then on … a little more like we live when we are
responding to a crisis … more sensitive, more patient, more understanding,
more compassionate in our day-to-day dealings … because it’s so easy to go
back to sleep after the crisis passes.
* I notice that I’m really grateful you asked :-), and that I hope I didn’t
offend anybody (though I probably did), and if so, I apologize. These are just
my views, and I tried to share them respectfully, because I think there is space
for that, and a way to do it so that we can all be elevated by this. I hope
others will post theirs, as well.