This is probably the only time I have ever written ANY message like this
online. But that message hits me close to home and I have to respond.
Please forgive me for taking my white gloves off, and speaking my mind. But
this must be said.
A message for Susan an h-costumer lurker who lives the Gulf Coast of
Alabama:
Quote:
"In sitting right in the middle of the disater area of the Gulf Coast I
appreciate Bjarne's thoughtful and compassionate political advice. Too bad,
you don't have any compassion for the victims. It has really helped me get
water, ice, and electricity in for my home. BTW, George Bush didn't make the
hurricane. Nature did." Unquote.
She made me promise to write that. She is VERY, VERY hurt by your comment.
From Me:
That message is very upsetting to me, and I and the others involved in this
disaster would appreciate you NOT trying to make this situation into a
political platform. H-costume is not a political platform list. First, very
few people on this list have lived in this area of the U.S. Most people
watching on TV do not truly understand the situation in this area. The
news networks want you to think is 100% fact for ratings. They can not even
say the names of the locations half the time correct. Footage they are
showing is named incorrect, etc. They are jump-cutting parts of the aerial
footage out of areas undamaged, etc. As my brother-in-law, who works for
Neilson Ratings in marketing, pointed out last night, these news networks
started Saturday pulling marketing information and getting top dollar for
advertising because they thought this would be that their big story. Do you
seeing any of these news networks giving money to the Red Cross or other
charities to help these people. No! The only real reports of the areas
came from Robin Roberts who entire family lives on the Gulf Coast.
Yesterday when they were showing footage of Pass Christian did you see ANY
images of those nice antebellum homes that survived? No! They jump-cut the
aerial footage of the entire area of where my mother's home was. I know the
areas of Southern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama as well as I know my
children. I lived there 21 years and ALL of our families still live there
but 4 members. My family and Susan have informed me of the majority of the
places that survived and how much damage there is. According to the news
90% of everything is destroyed. More has survived. There are areas of all
three states that are very low land. Generally this is the area where the
lower income people live because it is the property is cheap. New Orleans
has the same problems that almost every city in the most of the world has.
The lower income people are the majority of our present day inner cities.
In Richmond, Virginia the majority of the people in the city earn lower
incomes. Just like Chicago, LA, DC, Detroit, etc. We all have a prosperous
areas of the city and less prosperous areas of the city. NYC has had this
problem since immigrants came to the country 200 years ago. We had this
discussion previously on this list about that some people think the people
in the U.S. as all rich people in big 10,000+ sq. foot homes. If you choose
to believe what you see on TV or in magazines it is your choice. But you
probably also believe from every home or office window in Paris that you can
see the Eiffel Tower or in London you can see Big Ben from every window.
Hollywood wants you to think so. The majority of Americans do not believe
that.
Historically, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas are the lowest
income states in the U.S. They are agricultural, and seafood, and oil
producing states. That is the main reason we have an oil shortage this
week. The majority of oil refineries in the Coastal areas are down. New
Orleans, Gulfport, and Biloxi depend heavily on the tourism industry. Biloxi
also depends heavily on business from the local Air Force base.
Hattiesburg, 60 miles inland, where my brother lives, is a college town and
depends on the railroad and chemical industries. I heard one reporter say
when reporting from where the Grand Casino is in the middle of the highway
in Gulfport, that this was a poor area of town. This is actually a middle
class area. Those house are a nice size inside. Our families were livid
about that reporter's comment. The only low income area of the Mississippi
Gulf Coast is the Point in Biloxi... where the Biloxi bridge collapsed, and
the area just North of downtown Gulfport before I-10. The majority of
people on the Gulf Coastal areas live in houses with 1,500 -2,000 square
feet. They work on oil rigs, tourism (like the Casinos), military bases,
shipyards, or the seafood industry. The Gulf Coast States supplies the
majority of the oil drilling & refining (as you at the gas pumps found out
this week), seafood, shipbuilding & restoration, and crystal white beaches
for those who take vacations. The cost of living in this area of the
country is by far less than the majority of the U.S. Compare a nice 2,000
sq. foot home, for $60 to $75,000 for a middle income person on the Coast to
those in California, Chicago, or Washington DC metros. Probably about three
to four times higher or more. The majority of these Coastal homes were
built in the 1920s when the tourism industry took off. 60 miles inland from
these coastal areas, the cost of living is even cheaper. This is where the
agricultural counties are. These counties/parishes supply the WORLD with
cotton, beef, pork, rice, lumber, etc. Gulfport, Mobile, and New Orleans
are the ports for import and export for goods worldwide. Mobile's port will
be the only one functioning until the others recover. Yes, you can expect
the prices of these items to rise. All railroad running east and west on
the Gulf Coast have to be rebuild. Tracks needs repairing and the majority
of major railroad bridges are out. Mississippi has been supplying the
majority of the world with cotton for over 100 years. It is their number one
cash crop. As for oil production, I don't know anyone from the Coastal area
who does not have a family member who not in the oil industry, either
refining or on oil rigs. These people who work on the rigs are gone from
their families every other month and sitting on a rig in an Ocean around the
world. My brother has been on rigs for the past 30 years all over the
world. He has spent the past 10 years off the Coast of Africa next to
war-torn countries and my brother-in-law works on rigs off of the coast of
South America just to bring the World oil and support his families. Next
time you use these any of these products think about these people from this
Gulf Coast of the U.S. who have spent half their life devoted to bring the
world oil and goods. If you think they live so much in poverty, just write
out a second check to: Gulf Coast Poverty Fund everytime you purchase
gasoline, or something made of cotton, or enjoy shrimp, fish, or oysters
dinners. I will be very happy to personally manage the fund to give it to
them. The people who take the oil out of the water, on those hot on shrimp
boats, or in the hot fields of the cotton fields are proud people, but I
will make sure they get your money.
As for the some people in New Orleans misbehavior and the slow speed of
response with supplies to the Coast:
Not all 20,000+ people in New Orleans were out looting. Gulfport had very
like looting. Honey the last thing in this world I would do is mess with a
Mississippi policeman. The press found the looters. This was a despite
situation, people were hungry and thirsty. I wouldn't begrudge anyone
taking food or water for their families, but ATVs, big screen TVs, yes, I do
have a problem with that. New Orleans has been known for years as for
having a high crime rate, and have been rebuilding their police dept. after
years of corruption.
Everyone who lives on the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coast knows we are
prone to hurricanes. We had eight tropical systems in Richmond, Virginia
last year. That is the most it has ever had. We generally receive a
tropical storm ever other year. I live 100 miles from the Atlantic coast.
We ALL know that we might have to go a week or so without electricity water,
food. When it is hurricane season, we all know we need to be prepared with
water saved up, non-perishable food, and hurricane lamps & candles for at
least a week of survival. Just like Richmonders know that when it turns
winter in I should have these same things in the winter in case we get
snowed in or have ice storms. On our Coastal regions we all know when to
evacuate. The difference with this storm is that it grew very powerful in
one day and that it turned at the last minute. Some other factors: The two
weeks I was on the Coast, a tropical storm hit, (no evacuation ordered), and
a minor hurricane was coming into the area (we were in 8 hrs of evacuation
traffic for this the day before the storm). People had evacuated and the
storm turned. So when Katrina moved into the Gulf, people were hesitant.
Katrina is one of four of the most devitasting hurricanes that has hit the
U.S. since records have been keep. It is going to take some time to
co-ordinate the rescue and recovery. Just remember that it has been 35
years since the last major hurricane hit this area. Most of the people who
coordinated that effort are now senior citizens or have passed on. I can
speak for this from personal experience... my father was one of the
Camille's Civil Defense coordinators. I have been through so many hurricanes
and tropical storms in my life I can't even remember all of their names.
There have been over 30 something hurricanes when I last counted. Only one
time in all of these storms any of my family members lost their home and
that was from Hurricane Camille. And as you have seen we have a very large
family. Today's count, three of our family members have lost their home
from this hurricane.
I think the problem is that people outside of North America view the U.S.
according as to what you see on TV or in films. Just remember, that is
Hollywood's version is not the real thing. We do not have a great mass
transit system like England. Our country is very large. We have two cars
because my husband drives 45 minutes one way to go to work and needs a
vehicle. My car is used to transport my living-at-home children to go their
jobs in the opposite direction. The Richmond metro does not have mass
transit outside of the actual city limits. The majority of mid-size U.S.
cities with suburbs are this way. Small towns generally do not have mass
transit at all, except if you want to count a Greyhound bus station. Trains
for the most part are used for the transport of goods, like coal, lumbers,
oil, etc.
As for the flooding problems in N.O. When you build a city on a marsh, it
will flood. "N.O. floods almost every time it rains... that's why they bury
people above the ground." New Orleanians say that all the time. What the
Press is not showing you are the parts of the city that did not flood... the
original part of the city! Flooding is a fact of life in N.O., just like
living in the flood zone of Richmond, the BIG ONE (flood) will come on day.
The Big One happened in N.O. this week. The Big One happened in Richmond
last year from a tropical storm in 2 hours and 11 inches of rain. It wiped
out a whole business district when it happened. Sometimes unforeseen things
happen, like in Richmond's flood last year a dam almost broke and places
downstream were severely flooded. The people who live in the fault line of
California know the Big One will happen one day.
So should we not use the products and services from these areas to encourage
them to move. We seem to like all those fruits and vegetables we receive
from Florida and California. Do we say tough luck and not help these people.
No! We are humans and we try to help those in need as much as possible.
Just like we try to help people when earthquakes happen, volcanoes erupt,
massive wildfires, droughts, etc.
BTW, in case you didn't read my original message in July about the website
with the antebellums homes, I made it very clear to point out, these homes
were an exception in the South and are a declared historic district. That's
why I have them on my website... they are historic. 99% people in the South
do not live have big columned Plantation houses and strolling yards. A good
many of the modern homes do have porches. Even my home built in 1978 is an
exception with a 3/4 wrap-around porch. I looked for months to find a house
to purchase with a wrap-around porch. I wanted one because it reminded me
of the houses that face the beach in Pass Christian. But my columns, if you
would call them that, are 6" X 6" boards. My porch is not a status system
like the plantation style home but as functional as another room in our
house.
Please be careful when you stereo-type people and cultures. Don't judge
people by what you see on TV and the movies. The reason I have always loved
to travel and study costumes, is because I love to find out how others live.
Education teaches us all to respect one another. That is why I am in the
business I am in. But if you jump in and insult people or cultures, you end
up causing conflict and hurt feeling. We all live differently because of our
history, cultures, climate, income levels, etc. That is what makes us all
so unique as a world.
BTW, there is nothing wrong about not being a lot of having money. The
majority of people live paycheck to paycheck. I have know a lot of people
who have little money who are happier than those who have a lot. "Poor" is
a state of mind not how much money you make or where you live. You can have
all the money in the world and not be happy.
I was always taught to not condemn a person, before you way a mile in their
shoes. Bjarne please come out of the bubble and please walk a mile in
someone's others shoes before condemning their lifestyles.
Penny E. Ladnier
Owner,
The Costume Gallery, www.costumegallery.com
Costume Classroom, www.costumeclassroom.com
Costume Research Library, www.costumelibrary.com
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