To provide relief for those in need

So today was Day 2 of working at the American Red Cross Call Center. On Friday, we were trained on how to answer the phones, where we can find resources, and how to best give assistance to those in need who were affected by Katrina. It's a lot of stuff to digest, no question about it. While the immediate emergency is over, people are still in desperate need of assistance- financial, medical, food, how to find missing loved ones, a place to stay while they get their home in order, etc.

The Red Cross has two main phone numbers for disaster victims: get info and get cash. The info line is exactly what it sounds like: victims call up with questions and Red Cross employees refer them with names, numbers, and locations. The financial assistance line is set up to conduct phone interviews with victims to determine if they are eligible for immediate financial aid. Each interview can take anywhere between 20-55 minutes, depending on the number of people in the household, and how detailed the caller gets with his/her story.

Since the line opened up for Katrina victims, it has been logging 15,000 calls every 15 minutes or so. Think about that. That's 1,000 calls per minute; 60,000 per hour. Think about how many people were affected by this hurricane. And then think about how an average call can take 40 minutes. In one 8 hour shift, I have the opportunity to help maybe 10 callers. It may be a bit easier now to imagine just how difficult it was to coordinate and respond to a disaster of this magnitude.

We've been getting phone calls from people complaining that they've been calling the financial assistance line for days and weeks, and still can't get thru. And the best answer we can give them is that the Red Cross is adding more operators every single day, but the call volume is just tremendous and we need to be patient. Imagine telling someone who has just lost everything- their home, livelihood, all possessions, and maybe even a loved one- that they need to be patient. Now imagine having to tell them to be patient after they recount their harrowing tale of survival. In nutshell, that's my job.

At the end of the financial assistance interview, we determine how much money the household is eligible for. You should know that your donation to the Red Cross is going directly to the people in need of assistance. I'm not certain (though I'll know more tomorrow), but I believe the average level of assistance is around $1200. So far, the ARC has collected $50 million. That will serve approximately 41,500 households. Keep on giving.

By the way, Rita now has her eye on the Gulf Coast.

F**k Peter Angelos

So the Mets are playing the Nats today, afternoon game at Shea.

I walk in to my apartment, find out Mets are down 4-1. 2 outs. Cliff Floyd at the plate.

Fumble with the remote. Flip thru the usual suspect channels, where a Nats game is usually televised.

Oh, right. I remember the game is on ESPN.

Flip to ESPN. Huh? Why is ESPN showing ESPNews?

Crap, that's right. Local blackout. So the game should be on a local channel.

Flip back to Channel 20. No Nats game.

Tune back to the Internet. Cliff Floyd just hit a grand slam. Mets up 5-4.

Proceed to yell at the top of my lungs.

So a baseball game, which is on NATIONAL TELEVISION, can be seen anywhere in these lovely United States, except Washington, DC.

FU*K PETER ANGELOS.

He must be stopped.

Temporary Assistance

So tomorrow I will be starting a new temporary job: from 7am-3:30pm, I'll be taking phone calls for the American Red Cross from hurricane victims. I'll be trained in what to say, what to do, etc., and will do this until I find a real full-time job or the phones stop ringing.

I spent the last few weeks looking for something constructive to do, to somehow lend a hand even though I am hundreds of miles away from the disaster. I have finally found something- it will help me pay rent next month, and more importantly of course, it will serve as even a temporary assistance to those in need.

The tyranny of fandom

Last night was rough for Mets fans everywhere. I won't detail the pain and the anguish this team puts me through on a yearly basis, but suffice it to say that last night was the nail in the coffin. Deep down I knew that they weren't making the playoffs this year, and it doesn't upset me much that I'll spend another October watching someone else's team celebrate- because I know that this year's Mets are not a playoff team. But why lose in such a way? I think I would rather they leave the flair of the dramatic at home and just take their beatings quietly, because this just hurts more. A good friend of mine (one who will remain nameless to protect the innocent) wrote this following last night' s game:

friend: I am currently reading a criminal law book

friend: we are studying what circumstances mitigate a case from murder to manslaughter in general, you need to have sufficient provocative conduct that inflames passions, it has to be sudden, it has to be in the heat of the moment before passions have had time to kill, and there has to be a causal connection between the provocative act, the passion, and the fatal act

friend: which begs the question

friend: if i killed braden looper, right now, would it be manslaughter or murder?

'nuf said.

Trying to make some sense of it all

So I've been doing a lot of thinking over the last few days. First, thanks to David for discussing this with me. As always, emotions are always raw in the beginning, and my first gut reaction was to lay full blame on the federal government for the massive debacle in New Orleans and the surrounding areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. I recognize now just how much state and local officials did not do before the hurricane hit and what responsibilities they had afterwards. So there is a lot of blame to go around, and I don't think any official will come out of this unscathed when all is said and done.

There has been plenty of talk over the last few days about a congressional investigation. President Bush says that he wants to "lead" an "analysis" of what happened. Senator Hillary Clinton has called for an independent, bipartisan committee, along the lines of the 9/11 Commission. Personally, I'd support Clinton's idea, for a few reasons: recent history has shown that when this administration conducts an investigation, the end result is usually pinning a medal on some undeserving beureaucrat or political appointee or firing some lower level officials when the real culprit is sitting at the head of the agency pyramid. I also think Congress has a lot of other issues they need to focus on; which is NOT to say that this isn't important. But this type of investigation will take a lot of time and hard work- something that can probably be better achieved with an independent commission.

My main focus is not to lay blame, get it over with, and move on. I really want to know what went wrong. I want to know how we can strengthen the lines of communication between local, state, and federal officials. There's a reason why the Framers decided on the federalist system, but when disaster is poised to strike, there's gotta be a way around just waiting for the mayor or governor to pick up the phone and ask for help. When millions of lives are at stake, there has to be something that can be done, even if it means coloring outside the lines.

My background is management, so all of this fascinates me. It won't help to just introduce more bereaucracy and red tape into the system. The system needs reform, and it behooves us to do whatever it takes to figure it out. Katrina was the nightmare scenario for a natural disaster hitting New Orleans. There are other nightmare scenarios out there- some we've already though of, others that the imagination still has dared to paint. To me, there's no question. We have to be prepared for it all.

Addendum

Edits to below:

* Senate leaders decided to fly back to DC tonight (Thursday) to pass an emergency aid package. Well, welcome back. It's about f**king time.

* The United Nations has offered an aid package to the United States: not just financial, but "expertise" in dealing with such disasters. Can anyone say "irony"? The US government has yet to respond...

* Oh, and, read this from the National Geographic. When you finish reading the first few paragraphs, remember one thing: this was published in 2004.

State of confusion

There are so many thoughts running through my mind right now, I don't know where to start, so please bare with me as I try to organize it all on this page.

* Please explain to me how it took Congress 12 hours to rush back to DC five months ago to pass emergency legislation to save 1 woman's life, but over 72 hours after Katrina hit, the nation's capital is still void of law makers even pretending to care about the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans?

* It makes me sick to my stomach to see scum running around with guns, shooting at RESCUE WORKERS. Please explain- what the hell's the point right now?

* Why did it take so damn long to realize that Lousiana and Mississippi needed more than just a few hundred National Guardsmen? Let's compare 2 situations please: the University of Maryland wins the NCAA championship. Or the Detroit Pistons win the NBA championship. The scum of the city of Detroit and town of College Park loot, burn tires, overturn cars. AFTER THEIR TEAM WINS A CHAMPIONSHIP. So we see how low human nature can go- over a game. Now fast forward to this week. Countless towns, communities, cities have been DESTROYED. Turn to rubble. Under water. Lives lost, homes gone. What made anyone think that everyone would follow the rules of civil society and behave? Can anyone comprehend the psychological toll all of this is taking on these poor people?

* Speaking of psychological toll: just think about no bathrooms, no hot water, no bed, no sleep, no food, no water. What would you do?

* Did you know that 40% of Louisiana and Mississippi's National Guard is in Iraq? Just sayin.

* I sympathize with those who are "looting" for food. I have no idea what I would do or how I would act if I were in such a state of desperation. All the others make me angry. Please, pray tell- what on earth are you gonna do with all the electronics and jewelery you just stole and dragged through the water?

* God bless the people of San Antonio and Houston who are taking in the refugees, opening their homes, schools, centers, hospitals, and wallets- all to help make life just a little bit better for those who just lost everything.

* The United States of America is the richest country in the world.

* So who is confident in the government's evacuation plan if heaven forbid there's a terrorist attack somewhere in this country?

* I'm just sad. Sad, frustrated, angry. And helpless.