Hurricane Fay

It’s a gloomy, Yankee day in central Florida. Hurricane Fay is moving across the state and expected to exit over our county.

There’s rain with wind gusts, but I’ve seen worse. The power went out for a few hours. When I saw the FPL guy coming to fix the thingy-bob, I opened the window and cheered! He deserved to be celebrated for serving on a day like today.

I mean, the city closed, the schools… it’s sort of ridiculous. But, if there’s a lot of rain and expected flooding, it’s better not to be on the roads.

Yet, we’ve gotten to be a people who over react, are too cautious. We’re afraid of being accused. No one stand up for themselves.

We survived back to back hurricanes in ’04. The state ran beautifully. People were helped as fast as possible. Truly, it was a minor annoyance.

But then Katrina hit New Orleans the game of blame ensued. Be sure, Katrina didn’t destroy New Orleans. It was only a cat 3 storm when she went ashore. It was the broken, weak levies that damaged the city. it was the crime and the looting. Levies that should’ve been repaired by the city. Crime that should’ve been curtailed by the police.

Evacuation routes should’ve been used by the many school buses just sitting. The Times Picayune even reported on the state of emergency if a hurricane should hit the city, years before Katrina.

The problems with New Orleans was not FEMA, or George Bush, or the worst storm in human history, it was the local and state government. It was a welfare-state mentality. I saw a woman on the news crying, “You’re supposed to take care of us.”

But no one spoke out. Still, no one says the truth.

Tony and I have evacuated twice. We did not wait on the government or anyone to tell us what to do. We watched the news and said, “She doggy, let’s get out of here.”

Yet, for those in need, we must have compassion — no matter whose fault it is. We should give of our time and resources to care for our neighbor. And we should get the picture that depending on the government to feed and shelter us is never good! Let’s take care of ourselves, and help one another.

All I want my central government to do is protect our borders, guard our freedoms, and fight enemies both foreign and domestic. Perhaps help maintain fair labor laws without taxing the companies or the people to death.

At times, it seems like our government should be simple. But, I guess I’m wearing my rose colored glasses today. The more a presidential candidate says, “I’m going to do…” this and this, that and the other, the more I go, “Nope, not voting for you. Out of my knickers!”

Peace out.