Hope

My heart broke for this man, and for everyone else who lost a loved one or their home or their job in this horrific disaster. I had to comment on what you said about the calm after the event, that you're not hearing stories of violence or unrest coming out of Japan. I believe that you're thinking of the New Orleans response to Hurricane Katrina, and in my experience, that violent response is what's unusual. Here, after Hurricane Ivan, our community came together. Law enforcement and residents, especially in the hardest hit areas, patrolled for looters (and the most violent situation I heard of was between an out of town officer and a resident). In most cases, people helped each other, neighbors shared their grills and the meat from their freezers. If their homes were undamaged (and sometimes even if they were), they helped someone else clean up. I was working at a local TV station as a news producer; if we'd had any serious conflict afterwards, I'd've heard about it. I was working in the newsroom when the planes slammed into the World Trade Center on 9/11. In the first days and even the first few weeks after the attacks, I honestly expected to hear about violence caused by stress. We heard a few stories of anti-Muslim actions, but overall, it wasn't as bad as I expected. Not around here. People seemed to appreciate their family and friends more in the uncertainty of those days. We have a large military community here, too, and we all knew that many of them would be called to war at any time. Following Hurricane Katrina, which we felt here in Northwest Florida too, a bit, we were all appalled at the violent reaction from New Orleans residents, a few of whom fired shotguns at helicopters trying to bring aid. We were also appalled at stories like the one where the soldier took the little boy's dog away and forced the child to get on a bus without the only friend and possession he had left in his life. I have to say, I might've been tempted to pick up a gun myself, at that point. It was a bad situation made worse by people behaving badly. Finally, your husband's response to the flooded basement reminded me of a post-Katrina phone call I took in the newsroom. Some of us here lost power after Katrina, and a woman called the news, demanding to know when her power would be back on. She didn't like what she was hearing (or not hearing) from the electric company. "Ma'am," I told her. "Gulf Power is working on getting power back to everyone. It should only be a couple more days. And I have to tell you that my power is out at home, too, and I'm glad, because I'd much rather go three days without power than to deal with everything the folks in Mississippi and Louisiana are dealing with right now." She didn't have much to say after that.

It is devastating, and as someone who lives in an earthquake zone, I can all too easily picture this scenario taking place in California. Except with, you know, less stringent building regulations and more casualties. It seems so inadequate just to donate, but there's not much else I can do except feel grateful for what I have for whatever amount of time I'm privileged to have it.

It is so, so heartbreaking. You are right that it is important to be thankful for what we have. It keeps everything in perspective and keeps us from giving up hope. Thank you for this positive post.