Well, President Bush finally managed to say something I agree with : "If you don't need to buy gasoline, don't buy it." Even though much of the gasoline at local pumps was bought and paid for last week - when it could still be sold at 2.50 a gallon- it's now up to almost 3.50 here. Hmm. So since we live in a free market society, lets not reward profiteering. Remember, WE ARE the economy! And everybody can do a little something - and every little bit helps. Heck, last night I picked up my cane and walked to my parents' house. Okay, it's not even a mile from where I live, but I didn't need to stop to fill up the tank this morning. For some reason, last week, I filled the tank all the way up, which is something I almost never do in my present financial circumstances. I wonder why I did that?....

Meanwhile, here at the job-in-a-box and at the deli where I've taken to eating lunch ( on account of they have cheap sandwhiches and an honest to goodness lunch counter so you don't feel weird because you are only one person taking up a whole table) I've been hearing a lot of criticism about how things are going in New Orleans.

Fewer people - at least within the range of my hearing - are criticizing the relief effort than those who are criticizing the looters and the citizens of New Orleans in general. "Well, if those people had heeded the evacuation order in the first place, we wouldn't have to go in there and rescue them." one ignoramous said.

Unable to help myself, I butted into the conversation and pointed out that the majority of the people who stayed behind did so because they were not able to leave. We're not talking about thousands of irresponsible people here, who decided to mix drinks and party on their decks while a huge storm roared into th Gulf. We're talking about people who already had very little, who didn't have working cars or the money for the gas, or a friend or family member in the wide world to take them in if they could have left.

But, instead of awaking compassion in the heart of the critic, this seemed to bring to mind another point that he seemed anxious to make, "Well, sure, it's that element of society that was left behind. Maybe there are some people taking stuff they need, but a lot of the pharmacies have been broken into. And tell me what kind of nessessity there is in jewelry store! All I'm saying is this is a lot of complaining from people who already don't look down at the end of their own arm for a helping hand and some of them are just plain criminals."

"Yeah, those babies in diapers and old women in wheelchairs really ought to pull themselves up by their boot straps." I said with an eye roll.

Of course, I'm sure there are some people in the city who ARE just plain criminals. But, I'm guessing many of us would turn into criminals, or maybe even something worse, if we were in their shoes.

Here's my suggestion on some steps to take before you decide how you feel about New Orleans looters. First, take all the food out of your refrigerator and let in rot in ruin in the middle of your kitchen floor. Take about two days of supplies with you, a change of clothes and a gallon jug of water, and go up on the roof of your apartment - or your house if you are lucky enough to have one. You can go back in, entering and exiting though window to use the bathroom, but you can't flush the toilet, wash your hands, or take a shower. Turn off your cell phone, pager, blackberry, whatever. Waiting for an emergency phone call? Always talk to Elderly Mom every day to see how she's doing? Well, forget it. Oh, and if you have any kids, make sure they're on the same austerity measures as you are. Hurricaine Katrina didn't blow through New Orleans and only touch lightly the houses with children. The rain fell on the just and the unjust alike. Take medication every day? Well, you might want to ration that out no matter what it's for...your heart, your asthma, your mental health, your GURD...because the thing is, you don't really have any idea you're going to be up there on your roof. 'Course, if you're really going to participate you need to be up there at least 5 days so far.

THEN, if you still feel it's appropriate to criticize the citizens of New Orleans you might have a little bit of license. But you still haven't walked a mile in their shoes, because, after all, you haven't had to explain to your children why dead bodies are floating by, or why the dog has died. And of course, you haven't lost everything you own in the world. You can go back down, clean your house, turn your AC on, turn your water back on, etc any time you want.

I didn't bother to ask the ignoramous if he'd made a donation to The Red Cross or anything. I had a feeling he hadn't. But maybe I shouldn't be so judgemental - he might have. I bet you will. In fact, since I think people are basically good, in spite of a few jerks, I'm almost sure of it.