Rich, poor, black, white, Lower 9th Ward, Garden District – I’ve talked with them all in the last few days and I’ve learned that they’ve all been impacted in different ways by the oil spill in the Gulf.
Maybe you don’t feel badly for the person who is disappointed that they can’t order Louisiana oysters in their favorite 5-star restaurant. But maybe you feel for the guy who used to go out fishing for oysters every weekend with his buddy in his boat – they’d head out in the morning, spend the day out on the water, stop by the corner store, buy some beers, then go home to cook up their catch (free dinner!), drink and talk then go to sleep and wake up and do the same thing the next day.
Perhaps you’re not too worried about the fully-insured owner lumber store (who can file a claim with BP), but maybe you can relate to the guys who drive the trucks and haul the lumber for him, or the freelance contractor who buys his supplies at the lumber yard. All of them are going to feel the hit when the building projects stop because people are putting a “hold” on projects to wait out the fallout of this latest devastation.
Nothing is black and white. Nothing is rich or poor. Everyone who comprises this community – that is like no other community – is living through this. All of them are facing a permanent change to their way of life.