By Deon Roberts, Online Editor
I got a phone call from a Japanese friend who goes to the University of New Orleans about 8 p.m. on a recent Wednesday.
His car had died on the West Bank. Timing belt issue. He needed advice.
I’ll come over, I told him.
I met him in the parking lot of a Subway sandwich shop on the West Bank Expressway near Stumpf Boulevard — not exactly the safest place to be broken down after dark.
We stood around the car, peering into the engine compartment. Now, I know as much about cars as I do about astrophysics, so I wasn’t good for much except keeping him company. I called my brother-in-law, who has more experience with such things.
While waiting for him to show up, we chatted. After a short while, a black, dusty car rolled up next to us. A shirtless man sat behind the wheel.
“Need help?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Do you know anything about cars?”
Turns out, he couldn’t really help us. So he left. But about five minutes later, he came back. Could we give him gas money? We had no cash, only debit cards. After several minutes of turning him down, he finally left.
After he was gone, I turned to my friend.
“Do people beg for money in Japan?” I asked.
“No. Never.”
“Never? Not even in big cities, like Tokyo.”
“No. I don’t think so.”
“Really? Why not?”
“Pride,” he said. “Maybe it’s the culture.”
Somehow, our conversation made me think of the hurricane victims who lied to get federal money after Katrina. Right after the storm, just about everybody I knew got $2,000 from FEMA, including myself.
Some people seriously needed that money. As it is, my wife and I live check to check, and an evacuation basically is an unplanned vacation. We were evacuated for two weeks in Texas.
But others didn’t need a nickel from the government. Some simply squandered their $2,000 on clothes, tricking out their cars, you name it. I also knew other people who accepted food stamp cards when they didn’t really need them. My wife and I didn’t take a card. My wife said the $2,000 was enough for us. There are other people who need those cards more than we do, she said.
With Katrina’s second anniversary here, I hope people will have more pride in a future storm. If you really need federal help, take it. But don’t take it just because it’s there.
Like your momma used to say, “Money doesn’t grow on trees.”
3 responses so far ↓
Lynn // Wednesday, August 29, 2007 at 8:20 am |
A lot of people took advantage of help in general. My house was flooded and I had flood insurance. Besides the insurance settlement, I did receive the $2,000.00 from FEMA. Along with a good bit of my savings, I was able to get my house fixed. I know several people who were flooded and had no insurance. One example was: she received 18 months rent from FEMA, $360 from RED CROSS, $135,000 from The Road Home as well as $100,000 from their company (which was not reported to anyone). When they were finished, their home was paid off, they had 2 brand new vehicles and basically a new house. As I said, mine was fixed. Maybe next time they should give everyone with damage a flat fee per foot of water and call it quits…
Peter Stacker // Wednesday, August 29, 2007 at 9:42 am |
I didn’t take the money either. When people asked me if I took the extra aid, and I said no, they would get upset. “Why”, they would ask. I told them I don’t need the money. It was just my wife and I at the time. Both of our jobs gave us grants to live off of, our house had minimal damage. We were fine. “But that is your tax money”, they would say. True, but when I paid my taxes, never in my wildest dreams did I expect a natural disaster to occur, wipe out my city, and give me a refund. I didn’t feel entitled to that money. Not when people lost their houses, possessions and some, their families. Don’t get me wrong. Some people were staring down the barrel of some hard times. If you didn’t have any savings reserved, you needed the money. Take it. I just feel like when you abuse the government aid, you are stealing from yourself. Money is finite. I sleep easier knowing I didn’t take anything away from a single mother, who couldn’t work because there was no daycare, and had multiple mouthes to feed.
L Gaspard // Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 3:30 pm |
Ms. Lynn:
Please research the difference in Homeowners Insurance and Flood Insuance. It would be very likely if you had flood insurnce you also had homeowners.
In comparison to the person (a woman) you mentioned in your comments:
You said your house was flooded and you had flood insurance. You did not say how much you recevied from your flood insurance nor your homeowners policy for structural damage to put with your savings and the $2,000 from FEMA. You did not say where you lived or who you were living with before fixing your home or if you received the $360 from Red Cross or not.
If you lived with someone you could have collected for loss of use through your homeowners policy. This was an option you had in comparision to the person (woman) who opted to have FEMA pay for the 18 mos rent because of no homeowners insurance. (your option too if you did not have homeowners insurace which covered loss of use)
If you understood insurance the “woman” probably received the $135,00 from Road Home and the $100,000 from an over insured home which she amount of insurance she opted to purchase anticipating a great loss. There is such a thing as under insuranced and over insured. Which would benefit you Ms. Lynn.
I am tired of hearing people cry about what other persons received and how they spent their money; not realizing that a person can spend their on what they want. So you see Ms. Lynn, I can buy a Mercedes with 100,000 while someone else can spend 100,000 at the casino. It is just your options in life. Life is what you make it.