"My idiot friend..."

The people here in New Orleans are so kind and are quick to strike up a conversation, it is fantastic. Today I had two very interesting conversations with natives.

As Tom and I were riding the elevators in the office tower, we rode along with a toner delivery guy. I asked if he had lived here all his life, and he told us that indeed he did. "I have lived here for 50 years, in the same house for 48." I asked if he moved as a result of the Hurricane, and indeed he did. I learned that his house was right near the 17th Street levee that failed, so his house was one of the first to go. He told us that he had friends that lived right next to the breach, one guy was sleeping on the couch with his arm hanging off the edge. He felt the water on his fingers, which woke him up-he only had time to grab his keys, his wallet, and his cigarettes before he had to flee. The water rose so quickly, and he had to climb out a window and use a telephone wire to get to the neighbors roof where he waited to be rescued.

He also spoke about his "idiot friend" who spent 3 days up in his attic. Those were the hottest days of the year he informed us. He then began to laugh as he spoke about his pal, who was stuck in the attic because he didn't want to cut a hole in his roof. "The rest of his house was trashed," he said, "but the guy didn't want to damage his roof." We thanked him for his time and telling us his story, and wished him well.

Later on in the evening, I had another interesting discussion with the pizza delivery guy. He was living in a basement apartment in Uptown, and he lost everything. There was 7 feet of water in his place, and he parked up truck in what they were calling the "neutral zone," but it too flooded out. He was very angry, and blamed the governor for many of the problems. He was disgusted with the Road Home program, and said that he thought the governor should "fire them" or something. He was not happy with Mayor Nagin, and proudly said that he didn't vote for him. I was surprised that he did not feel more contempt for the federal government, although he did mention FEMA and stated that they didn't help very much.

I was struck by how appreciative this man was, he thanked me over and over again for coming down here, and helping people, and supporting the local economy. He shook my had several times and asked me my name. It was incredible to feel so welcomed and useful from a man whom I am not even helping directly. It's moments like these that really make me feel like my time here is accomplishing something, even if it is to make the pizza guy feel like people out there are listening and caring.