so today i’ll try to talk about something different. something wonderful. like how when we evacuated for rita a friend and i went to a restaurant to have drinks (a favorite of mine from when i used to recruit there). the rain was coming down in torrents, the sky a forboding gray, and even in the heat of south louisiana in september it was cool.
the bar had a fire blazing so we crouched close to the fire and ordered drinks and oysters and struck up conversation with the couple across from us. they asked where we were from…which led to why we were there. they seemed genuinely interested. and more than that, appreciative of our efforts no matter how bungled by fema.
we chatted for a while – an hour or two. and as they rose to leave we settled in for a little longer as we contemplated dinner. preparing to get a table we went to pay our tab. the waitress smiled and nodded us on.
“they paid for you. they said you have been working really hard.” another big smile as we walked away pleasantly surprised and quite moved by the gesture.
we were seated, had an awesome waiter who brought us two soups instea of one, brought us sorbet between courses and generally took awesome care of us. it was a welcome reprieve from the sometimes emotionally grueling though beauracratic work of processing fokls through the fema system.
sometimes i get lost in sad stories – like the woman today who lost her daughter yesterday and then found out she wasn’t getting her $2000 as promised or the woman who was verbally abused by the red cross and vented to me for 20 minutes even though she knew i couldn’t help her with her $2000 either.
sometimes i get lost in all of that and forget that a couple bought me drinks and an appitizer. or that people who have lost so much compliment me on my smile while i work, or that an applicant sat waiting to be in my line yesterday (wrong line) and told me he liked my natural style, or that my friend has taken better care of me than i’ve taken of myself these last three weeks…
so i want to take this moment to say that i do see slivers of Blue. and if i sometimes seem blind to them, know they are just clouded by tears and when i dry them i see more clearly.
much love for all the support…
Where has it been posted that it's wrong to complain? I, for one, am moved by your complaints. Though you may complain here and there, I still see you have the strength to continue to press on…yeah, that sounds like a sliver of blue