Not Everyone Needs a Hurricane

I work in an Emergency Department of an urban city. A large percentage of my patients are uninsured or have little to no access to any kind of quality health care. For some people there is no medication, there is no job, their is no child care. To take and keep a job would mean losing state funded assistance, a move that would end up becoming more costly. Often there isn't much to think about except family, the house, a few guilty splurges, or mind numbing drugs. Though it can be frustrating, this disparity is one of the reasons that I work there and I am constantly reminded of how many people consistently live on the edge, paycheck to paycheck, hook or crook.

Hurricane Katrina has brought a devastation far beyond its reach. Over this past week, the conversation has turned to how this natural disaster became a man made disaster and the finger has been pointing to our current administration's lack of initiative. Anyone who knows me or has engaged me in conversation on this subject knows that I am not going to defend the office of the presidency on this but I want to ask a bigger question. In considering the aftermath of this disaster, haven't we all been a little late?

We Americans are great in a crisis. Barely a day went by before companies were matching personal donations to the Red Cross. We televised star studded telethons, Celine Dion is donating a million on Larry King. We have seen this time and again. But the fact remains that the hurricane only blew the fog away from a bigger picture - the ongoing and constant hurricane of poverty and the plight of minorities. How many of us were regular financial donors to the Red Cross before the storm? How many of us regularly donate food or clothes to shelters? We gather to raise money for our favorite political candidates at election time, but how many of us follow the decisions they make once in office? How many of us regularly send messages to our legislators regarding issues that affect the poor in our own communities or the decisions that lead to an administration's incompetence. How many of us are sure that there aren't people in our own neighborhoods who aren't financially or emotionally falling by the wayside. Do we routinely stand up against inappropriate racial or ethnic slurs in our circle of friends or work?

I think we enjoy a little crisis. It allows us to "come together" and since 9/11, our response to crises has redefined the word patriotic. But at the end of the day when the flood waters recede, are we back to business as usual, every man for himself? Will we be able to rebuild New Orleans and strengthen our own communities on a better foundation than before?