« F#$% You, I Live Here | Main | Ph.D. = Please Help the Deaf »
June 15, 2006
"It's like the Old West"
Categories: Travel
Another anecdote from my New Orelans trip:
The same day as the encounter with the garbage men, I was performing my duty as an electrician's helper and son -- handing my dad the tools he needed to wire a junction box. While I was standing there, three guys come into the church fellowship hall where we're working. Since I am right inside the door, they direct a question to me: 'Hey, man, you guys got anyone doing the sheetrock work in here?"
"I don't know. It's a church and we're all just volunteers here for the week. I can go find out, though."
As I went to get the pastor, I heard the guy who had asked me about the sheetrock turn to one of his compatriots and say "gratis", as in we were doing all the work for free.
It took me a few minutes to find John and convey what was going on (he, and most of the people I tried to ask where he was, were deaf). But eventually we made our way back around to the fellowship hall. They sheetrock guys were nowhere to be found. I was puzzled, but really I was just naive. John explained to me (via interpreter) that LOTS of people will come by and say they're looking for work. While they wait for you to explain things, tell them no, or get the guy in charge, they are scoping out the job site for equipment. Later, they'll come back and steal all the stuff.
New Orleans post-hurricane makes me wonder if Hobbes was right. Deep down, we really are in a war of all against all; only a veneer of social contract keeps things from the state of nature. Home Depot keeps armed guards on site to help control crowds and prevent people from beating each other over sheets of plywood and 10 penny nails. My father's friend who lives just on the other side of the river told us how his neighbor, a guy who he knows and said hello to when they saw each other in the street, tried to steal gas cans out of his garage right after the hurricane.
Maybe misanthropy is the right attitude. I am just trying to be honest.
Posted by Nakia at June 15, 2006 09:07 AM