I went to lunch today with the co-workers in my small team at my new job.  I work for the State, and my co-workers are very "normal" people.  Whereas most of my former co-workers in the college town I live in have been pierced, tattooed, unnaturally-coiffured, and often artists and musicians who generally spend half the workday hung-over from the night before, my new bureaucratically-employed co-workers are very mainstream -- they like football, television, Republican leadership, Church morals, pastel clothing, casual Fridays, and cubicle decorations inspired by syndicated cartoons.  It's a weird new world for me.

Apparently, I'm a weird new world for them, too.  When we pulled into the parking lot of Chili's for lunch, I casually mentioned it was my first time to go there.  "You mean to this one?"  they asked me.  "No, to any Chili's.  I've never been," I admitted, not too shockingly, I thought. 

Their mouths dropped open.  "I can't imagine that! You live in such a weird world!"  said one.  "It's like that thing they said once on Seinfeld, it's like you live in Bizarro-world!"  gasped another.  They were serious.

I don't even want to tell them I don't own a television, or that I don't like meat.  I don't think they're ready yet.  They're still getting used to my Chuck Taylors.

Lunchtime conversation began, and I was quickly left behind.  It seems "Our" sports team had just won something or other, and then there was something something  about divisions I think, and I wanted to interrupt and ask what sport they were talking about, did they mean football?  but I couldn't, I didn't want them to realize yet just how much I don't fit in.  I felt like I was in Bizarro-World too.

And then the talk turned to politics.  I immediately felt nervous, like the lone monkey who'd snuck into a Creationist meeting, when they surprised me.    Every single one of them was angry at the government, regarding the current situation in New Orleans.  They were shocked by the ineptitude of FEMA, they were horrified at the degree of mishandling of resources, and they were furious at the way so many thousands of people were failed, and so spectacularly.  Not one of these people, my family-values-saluting, pro-Bush-voting, gay-marriage-fearing, American-flag-on-their-cubicle-wall-hanging co-workers, was any less angry about the situation than I am.  I was overjoyed, or at the least comforted.

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On that note, Salon has an interesting article contrasting federal handling of Hurricane Frances, a hurricane in an important swing state during an election year, with that of Hurricane Katrina, a hurricane that wiped out mostly poor areas during the second term of a lame duck president.

Here's an excerpt:

...According to [Charles] Mahtesian, "The story on the ground... [during Florida's 2004 hurricanes] was FEMA's performance. By the end of September, three hurricanes later, the agency had processed 646,984 registrations for assistance with the help of phone lines operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Fifty-five shelters, 31 disaster recovery centers and six medical teams were in operation across the state."
...

[In Florida in 2004] Gov. Jeb Bush sought federal help Friday while Charley was still in the Gulf of Mexico. President Bush approved the aid about an hour after the hurricane made landfall. By Monday afternoon, the cavalry seemed to be in place."

...

...in 2004 the FEMA cavalry was roaming all over Florida, including parts almost completely untouched by the hurricanes, such as Miami-Dade County. Within weeks of Hurricane Frances hitting the Florida coast, 19,500 residents of Miami-Dade applied for disaster relief. FEMA quickly approved 9,000 of the claims and set aside $28.9 million in tax-free grants to help them rebuild.

But rebuild from what? Frances never hit Miami-Dade. Locally, top sustained winds the day the storm struck only reached 47 mph and did minimal damage to just a handful of buildings. Just 5 percent of county residents even lost power, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, which uncovered FEMA's unusual largess. The newspaper reported that within two days of Frances' arrival FEMA officials knew Miami-Dade had been unscathed, and yet the checks soon flowed into the county. "They were just doling out this money like it was Christmas," a spokeswoman for Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., told the Sun-Sentinel. (Eventually, 14 Miami-Dade residents who received assistance were indicted on fraud charges.)

The irony was that when he took over the relief agency in 2001, Allbaugh testified before Congress that he was worried FEMA had evolved into "an oversized entitlement program." But with an election looming in 2004, there appeared to be little concern about Bush's FEMA being too generous with relief funds.

The Miami-Dade financial windfall came courtesy of President Bush who, following the request of his brother, declared the county a disaster area as the hurricane began to strike the coast. But Miami-Dade officials never even asked for disaster designation, for a very simple reason: Frances came ashore 120 miles to the north.

Contrast that with almost anyone's account of Hurricane Katrina. Even Fox News'.

Comments

[j]

Apropos of the being a bizarro world inhabitant. Many europeans assume americans are the same, like all french, germans or what have you are the same. Never mind you could fit their whole continent in the back pocket of our country. I hear "They're american too..." As if I travelled this far to chat about peanut butter and baseball. In my last flat I had much more in common with the couple from East Berlin than the two from El Paso.

[M Sinclair Stevens]

Well the "convey a positive image" idea explains why hundreds of trained firefighters and medical worker who volunteered to go in and relieve the beleagered New Orleans forces are sitting around in Atlanta taking learning how to hand out FEMA fliers and pose for Bush photo ops.

Stories here and here:
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3004197
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1102570&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

[Karla]

My favorite quote from the Fox article: "[FEMA Director Michael] Brown said that among duties of these employees was to 'convey a positive image' about the government's response for victims."