Hit me like a ton of bricks

All the devastation from Hurricane Katrina.... it really hit me today. I was at the gym, watching all the news coverage while I sweated out my frustrations. This is really the first time I gave the coverage my full attention, and they had people on TV who were looking for missing loved ones, who were desperately needing help and weren't getting it, hospitals that couldn't even begin to help all the people that needed it... I almost started bawling right there in the gym. Two weeks ago everything was fine there, people were going to work, taking their kids to the park, buying groceries, watching TV, going to baseball games - now it's all gone.

I couldn't even begin to fathom what it's like for people who not only lost all of their possessions, but have watched their entire town disappear, who are desperate for food, water, shelter, electricity, medical care....the basic stuff we all take for granted.... all gone. I felt incredibly guilty for going about my daily life, for the warm bed I slept in last night, the clean clothes I'm wearing, the chicken salad I made for lunch. Thousands upon thousands would probably literally kill to have even one of those things back right now. Sure, I've donated money, but I'm sure that's not putting those people's minds at ease right now. They don't need money, they need food and water and a place to sleep. They need to know their children will be safe.

I just feel awful, I want to jump on a plane (like there would be a place to land one) and just do SOMETHING to help these people, and the animals too. I'm a huge animal lover, and I imagine that they are suffering equally, as I'm sure a lot of people had to leave their pets behind. I myself just couldn't do that, no matter what I would not leave them.

Then, they show good old George Bush riding in a nice, comfy, first class accommodated plane over the areas affected. Now nice of him, he cut short his vacation to take a plane ride and say some nice words, part of which was that he could understand and imagine what all these people are going through. Yeah, George, I'm sure you know all about it. Fucking asshole. I'm sorry, but he needs to get off his fucking ass and take action here. People don't need his sympathy, they need his HELP.


Anyway, this rush of emotion this morning really bummed me out, so I figured I'd, well, bum all you out too :)