Lindsay, I too have been a couple hurricans. How in the world do you have the adasity to say 2 1/2 years is enought to get Katrina's damage fixed up. How many people were kill in the hurrican you were in? The flooding alone was catostfic. It was one the most devastating stoms of our time and you have the nerve to pass judgement. Get a life.
QUOTE(Big Ben @ Mar 3 2008, 12:28 AM) [snapback]10503[/snapback] Lindsay, I too have been a couple hurricans. How in the world do you have the adasity to say 2 1/2 years is enought to get Katrina's damage fixed up. How many people were kill in the hurrican you were in? The flooding alone was catostfic. It was one the most devastating stoms of our time and you have the nerve to pass judgement. Get a life. Having been part of the mass exodus, 2.5 years is plenty of time to get back on your feet after a catastrophe such as Katrina. 2.5 years may not be enough time to get it all fixed...but, it sure oughta be enough to get started. Lots of other places have been hit much harder and recovered much quicker. Just about everywhere the people of New Orleans were sent to the crime rate rocketed. I've seen the same thing Lindsay was saying. The majority are sitting around waiting for a hand-out. Those that want to work can and do. I am still getting calls about contract work in N.O. and the surrounding area. Some are paying in excess of $100 per hour. The rates are high because there is no place to live there for outsiders coming in to work. Head over to Mississippi and check them out. They did not get 1/2 the publicity or 1/2 of the help NO did...and they are light years ahead of NO.
What I said, was 2 1/2 years was too long to live in a FEMA trailer. I can not imagine subjecting my family to such and I believe that most of the people there who have any personal responsibility have not done so, Never said it was enough to get rebuild New Orleans. That's what you said, not me. I stand by this. Several years ago, in Winter Haven, FL, my daughter went thru 3 hurricane eyes in one year. I personally think that rebuilding any part of New Orleans that is below sea level is very dumb, but this certainly isn't the place to discuss it. As a teenager, I went through hurricane Dona and made a ton of money after it as most industrious kids did. A friend and myself got a tractor and stood up palm trees at $15 each at about 2 per hour. My other job paid 75 cents an hour, so this was big bucks for us in 1960. Once again, my intent was to let others know that these two parks were in areas we found to look unsafe and others should consider this before giving out credit card numbers which were asked for on the phone.
Whew!!! All that just to get a review of a couple shaky parks... Thanks Lindsay for being the 'one' who allowed us all to blow off some steam. Chilling and grilling. Anyone need a drink? B)
QUOTE(FosterImposters @ Mar 3 2008, 10:52 PM) [snapback]10525[/snapback] Whew!!! All that just to get a review of a couple shaky parks... Thanks Lindsay for being the 'one' who allowed us all to blow off some steam. Chilling and grilling. Anyone need a drink? B) Think we should make it TWO.....
QUOTE I believe these are the same ones who waited for the buses to take them to safety. I suspect it might be hard for an RVer to understand, but New Orleans is unique in that there are a lot of residents who have literally never left the city in their entire lives. They were born in New Orleans, their entire family is in New Orleans (and has been for generations), and they simply have never traveled outside the city. Also, a lot of residents of New Orleans rely on public transportation. Those factors, which would never occur to a lot of people and are completely outside any RVer's experience, complicated the evacuation effort immensely. It would be a piece of cake for me to hop in my car and get out of town. If I didn't have a friend or relative I could stay with, I would just drive around and find a hotel room, like I've done countless times before in my life, using a credit card with a high enough limit to cover any length of stay. If I had an RV, it would be even easier, plus I would obviously be a veteran traveler and exceedingly familiar with getting away from home, and being away from home. But what if I had never left the city before, I don't know anybody outside the city, I don't have a car, and I live paycheck to paycheck and don't have a credit card? How in the world would I evacuate? And then the authorities who ordered the evacuation say there will be buses to get me out of town. I don't think it's unreasonable to wait for those buses, especially when you have no other choice. To issue a harsh judgement against people who did is unfair and reveals an inability to put oneself in another's shoes. I would hope this inability was simply based on ignorance of the complex issues involved in this particular case, and not anything more sinister.
dbnck, You are a person who has learn from their travels. Congratulations. So many think that we all have had equal opportunities. It just not so in the real world. In many cases our government has created this monster. Many of those people can not read or right, much less drive. Most of us have had a rather easy life and now live pretty well. How well would we have done if we were born into their situation?
QUOTE How in the world do you have the adasity to say 2 1/2 years is enought to get Katrina's damage fixed up If cities like Biloxi or Gulfport were currently in the same "boat" as New Orleans, you might have a point - but they aren't & you don't. The fact is, those cities have decided that instead of playing the political blame game & looking for assistance they have made the correct decision to help themselves. That is why they are light years ahead of New Orleans. The amount of aid the New Orleans has received from the state, federal & local levels of government (not to mention the bevy of relief groups) is exponentially greater than the two cities listed above, yet they are both ahead of NO in terms of rebuilding and economy. Why do you think that is?? This is not about equal opportunity, or education. This is about getting off one's #$%#@ and helping others help you out. The demographics in Biloxi or Gulfport are not that different than New Orleans, yet they seem to be recovering rather nicely.
As to the subject..New Orleans... in my opinion the elected Officials, namely the Mayor on down through their government were unable, or unwilling to perform their duties to protect the citizens, for whatever their reason. They were also looking to someone else, State and the Federal governments to do for them what they could not do for themselves because they were unprepared to act. The inactivity caused finger pointing at everyone else by the cities' leaders who were unable to see the seriousness of what was unfolding before their eyes. The mayor's failure to respond in a timely manner caused many people to suffer an inhumane existence and yes, to some...death. Surely looks like the "handout" mentality starts with the very top leadership all the way to the person who is now living on the crime ridden streets. And yes this Mayor was voted into office again shortly after the destruction of the city. Power..glory..and money, but nothing for the common person, except more of the same as before... Truly a sad situation no matter how one looks at it.
denbroncs your posting was not there when I started my posting, but I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one that thinks the same. Just a note, our local church and the Presbytery of Albany, of which we are part, have been sending rebuilders of homes and spirit to the Gulfport area two to three times a year since the beginning. The numbers of personnel vary as to availability, but the group is always appreciated. A job well done by all... thanks
Leftyf, Lindsay, and Denbroncs: I could not agree with you more. Certainly, what hit New Orleans was catastrophic (not Catostfic as someone said), and our hearts and wallets went out to those folks who suffered so badly from this disaster. But enough is enough. Sure, some of these folks can't "read or right" as someone on this site said, but I know lots of folks who can't read or write but who have worked themselves out of poverty and dire circumstances. In my humble opinion, what we are seeing in New Orleans is a continuation of the "welfare syndrome" whereby people in major cities are on the dole and do nothing to improve their lot. Someone stated that these people don't have cars, and all their relatives live in New Orleans. Well, they've got feet and they can walk. With the millions of jobs (albeit low paying ones) in this country that are going begging, there is no excuse for many folks who continue to stay in New Orleans not to get out. It is easy to blame the government, the politicians, the lack of education and ability of people who live in New Orleans, and everybody else but the bottom line is summed up quite nicely in a modified old saying: All things come to he who waits.....and works like hell while he is waiting. I don't think Lindsay is displaying "adasity" (whatever the hell that means), by expressing his views on New Orleans nor is anyone else--pro or con. My mother taught my father how to read by using the newspaper as a teaching tool, and he always held menial, low paying jobs, yet he sired a family that produced one doctor, one lawyer, and one registered nurse. So don't give me tear-jerking stories about people who, going on almost three years after a disaster, still sit there on their butts asking for more handouts.
QUOTE(Beastdriver @ Mar 5 2008, 09:54 AM) [snapback]10558[/snapback] Leftyf, Lindsay, and Denbroncs: I could not agree with you more. Certainly, what hit New Orleans was catastrophic (not Catostfic as someone said), and our hearts and wallets went out to those folks who suffered so badly from this disaster. But enough is enough. Sure, some of these folks can't "read or right" as someone on this site said, but I know lots of folks who can't read or write but who have worked themselves out of poverty and dire circumstances. In my humble opinion, what we are seeing in New Orleans is a continuation of the "welfare syndrome" whereby people in major cities are on the dole and do nothing to improve their lot. Someone stated that these people don't have cars, and all their relatives live in New Orleans. Well, they've got feet and they can walk. With the millions of jobs (albeit low paying ones) in this country that are going begging, there is no excuse for many folks who continue to stay in New Orleans not to get out. It is easy to blame the government, the politicians, the lack of education and ability of people who live in New Orleans, and everybody else but the bottom line is summed up quite nicely in a modified old saying: All things come to he who waits.....and works like hell while he is waiting. I don't think Lindsay is displaying "adasity" (whatever the hell that means), by expressing his views on New Orleans nor is anyone else--pro or con. My mother taught my father how to read by using the newspaper as a teaching tool, and he always held menial, low paying jobs, yet he sired a family that produced one doctor, one lawyer, and one registered nurse. So don't give me tear-jerking stories about people who, going on almost three years after a disaster, still sit there on their butts asking for more handouts. Beastdriver, I probably haven't agreed with you on many of your opinion's but I really have tried to respect your opinion. This is one though I couldn't agree more. I am so tired of hearing how it seems to always be someone else's fault. Let's not forget the people that did open their own little business. I think we saw allot of them on the news helping themselves to whatever they could STEAL from the hard working people. As far as the FEMA trailers I saw what people did to them as well. Yes I would hate to try and live in them with a family but that gives them no right to destroy them. Thanks, Beastdriver for putting it much more kind than I could have. I'll probably get pounded for this but I really don't care. Just my opinion,
I wish I'd never brought it up. Sorry. I thing that anybody going in that direction should not give out their crecit card info over the phone based on what they saw on the internet or in the "books". Drive by and look for yourself and decide. I we had some trouble turning around afterwards though and I did not want to go around the block on a side street We also went to Biloxi and Gulfport and Waveland and heartly agree that they have stepped up to the plate and are busy rebuilding their own homes themselves as we did in 1960 after hurricane Dona. I might add that you can stay overnight at the gambling casinos for free also.
The way this thread has taken off in different directions is exactly the reason a drive by review of a park is not a good idea. You should at least have stayed 1 night to post a review. You can see people's different opinion's of things like FEMA trailers that have nothing to do with the park influencing their review. As always just my opinion,
QUOTE(rodman @ Mar 7 2008, 10:40 AM) [snapback]10578[/snapback] The way this thread has taken off in different directions is exactly the reason a drive by review of a park is not a good idea. You should at least have stayed 1 night to post a review. Generally I agree with that. I will add the caveat that it might be appropriate to review a park when you have a reservation, but arrive only to find out your site was "given away" or that you are given a space different than what you reserved. Let me point out that "request" and "reserve" do not mean the same thing. If one does not understand the difference, it is in everyones best interest that a review is not posted until one is clear on those terms. We've also driven into a park with the intent to stay, but found the bathrooms or grounds so appallingly bad that we have left. I feel the freedom to review those parks as well.
different opinion's of things like FEMA trailers that have nothing to do with the park influencing their review. I said I was through with this thread, but I just wanted to point out that the FEMA trailers and unsavory people were in the park and inside the fence around the park there to keep out people. I wouldn't have stayed for free and we Wal-Mart a lot.
Lindsey, I understood your post. I also appreciate you letting the rest of us in on what you saw. I did not take your post the way some people read it. I would like to see reviews of campgrounds people decided not to stay in. On a separate note I would also say I agree with the people who said 2 1/2 years is enough. I worked in down town Long Beach many years ago. The people I met only wanted hand outs. They did not want to do anything for themselves. One example: I was working in the local supermarket.( I was a manager transferred in, it appears the locals did not want to work at the market.) Nobody used coupons with their grocery shopping. We had buy one get one free coupons, and Double coupons. I asked many customers why they did not use the coupons. They said they did not have the time to be bothered with them. These customers were on welfare. :huh:
We usually try to check out a park before hand if possible. Since we stay 4 mos at a time, we need safety and security. The website may show pristeen grounds and sound good with great adjectives, but it's not always the reality. RVPark Reviews is the absolute best guide for helping us decide where to go most of the time. So I appreciate it when someone has taken the time to write up, "We drove through the CG and decided not to stay". Especially if they can list a few reasons.
