I'm not used to having this conversation. Maybe I should be.

[bedlamsbard]

I forget that outside of New Orleans, a number of people question the city's right to even exist. And also look at Hurricane Katrina as solely a judgment/wake-up call to the U.S., instead of a devastating event that affected people's lives.

I mean, I'm the last thing from a Louisiana native (born and raised in Washington), but I've lived in New Orleans for the majority of the past two years. And yeah, I live on-campus, I go to a school that has a majority of out-of-state students, but we all chose to come to New Orleans, you know? We're part of that group of people that go, "Yeah, New Orleans is important, and we love it, and we want to live here and tell people it's okay to live here and that there's nowhere else like New Orleans in the world." So that's what I'm used to hearing from other people, along with all the New Orleanians who were living in the city when Katrina hit and then came back. 97% of Tulane students who evacuated for Katrina and did their Katrina semester at another school came back to Tulane and to New Orleans. (I don't know the figures for other GNO schools, but I guess they'd probably be similar?)

I forget that everyone doesn't love New Orleans. I forget that some people believe that New Orleans shouldn't even exist.

(I forget that some people don't know basic geography and HELLO NEW ORLEANS IS NOT THE ONLY CITY IN AMERICA OR HEY THE WORLD BUILT ON A SWAMP. Gods, I think I just stared at him blankly when he said, "That's what you get for building on a swamp!" because I had no idea how to respond. And then I changed the subject as quickly as I could.)

Comments

best. damn. argument. icon. EVER.

[sporky_rat]

....Washington DC was built on a swamp.

it is an icon of excellence!

[bedlamsbard]

I KNOW. Also Houston and Venice and New York and a number of other prominent cities throughout the world! New Orleans is not even the only city in America that has been hit by a devastating hurricane! (Houston, I think, keeps getting it worse than New Orleans; my roommate is from Houston, so I hear about it a lot.) Hurricanes have even hit Providence, RI! (I don't want to use one major disaster to exonerate another major disaster; I hope that it doesn't sound like that's what I'm doing. I am just pointing out that hurricanes are not exclusive to New Orleans.)

[aella_irene]

At least New Orleans is not slowly sinking, and does not flood every winter!

[bedlamsbard]

No, just every time it rains! (Have I mentioned the time I waded back to campus in water that ranged from calf-deep to knee-deep? OH NEW ORLEANS. Also I was in heels and not even my rainboots.)

[aella_irene]

But does it bubble up through the paving stones from underneath? Seriously, tell them to go and whine at the Venetians!

[bedlamsbard]

Well, I don't know about sinking, but something bubbles up from under the earth at my campus! *reminds self to take pictures when I go back* (There are always random patches of earth that are steaming mightily and where the earth is bubbling, wtf.)

Re: it is an icon of excellence!

[sporky_rat]

It doesn't sound like you're using one disaster to exonerate another, you're using it as proof that bad shit happens everywhere!

Re: it is an icon of excellence!

[bedlamsbard]

*grumbles* And Los Angeles is sitting on the San Andreas fault, and Seattle is overdue to be destroyed by either a massive tsunami, a massive earthquake, or Mt. Rainier erupting. MANY MAJOR CITIES HAVE PROBLEMS, BUDDY.

Re: it is an icon of excellence!

[snacky]

Hurricanes have even hit Providence, RI!

We don't get them as often up here in New England*, that's where the luck comes in, but we had a pretty big one in the early 90s, and I still remember being blown from lane to lane in my car, the winds were so strong. And I live almost 50 miles inland, and the power was knocked out. And on Cape Cod, in the town I go to every summer, homes were flooded and destroyed, roofs were ripped off hotels, and the beaches and roads were so badly damaged, they had to be rebuilt.

So, yeah, they don't JUST happen in New Orleans.


*blizzards and ice storms, those are things we're real used to. ;)

Re: it is an icon of excellence!

[bedlamsbard]

If New Orleans ever had an ice storm, it would shut down. It practically shut down when we had about a centimeter of snow back in December 2008. For that matter, schools close for the possibility of snow. (Not my school; that was finals week.)

*sighs* Someone restore my faith in the human race?

Re: best. damn. argument. icon. EVER.

[pinesandmaples]

I know you. Strange.

Re: best. damn. argument. icon. EVER.

[sporky_rat]

um..yes, you know me? ;-)

[harpers_child]

at some point you will learn through osmosis the "offended southern lady thousand yard stare". i find it most useful in situations like the one you describe. until you do, being flustered and changing the subject is an acceptable alternative. also you may want to mention the Louisiana Purchase which was the purchase of the port of new orleans that had all that other land thrown in.

[bedlamsbard]

Some point soon, I hope. *sighs* I just...agh, people. I HATE PEOPLE. *curls up* (He is from Iowa. Gee, I wonder why they built a city there? /sarcasm)

[sporky_rat]

I swear, I'm going to have to go down to Tulane and teach it so that when Bedlam goes back to Washington state, she'll be able to do it.

That or there's a lot of watching of Rome to be had. Atia's pretty good at it.

[bedlamsbard]

The good news is that I just checked the first season of Rome out of the university library yesterday, and am mainlining it before I have to return it. (Michael Apted directed! I did not know this. I now have slightly more faith in VotDT. Low expectations: it's the key to enjoying a film.)

[lady_songsmith]

Well, building ON a swamp is a more (relatively) recent form of stupidity; the initial city founders were usually smart enough to pick the high ground, thus places like the French Quarter came through better than newer sections of the city. Urbanization, how we love thee. /sarcasm But yes, there is a reason why people build near swamps; they're called rivers. Everyone should have to take a historical economic-geography class, I swear. And then there are the entire countries under sea level, but I suppose we should just get rid of Holland completely?

[bedlamsbard]

But of course the hurricane would never have made landfall at all if New Orleans wasn't built where it is! OBVIOUSLY. And it's not like Houston or DC or Venice exist! And it's not like a hurricane has ever struck anywhere outside Louisiana!

Some days I really hate people.

[lady_songsmith]

Go watch Rome, it's fun and satisfies the blood lust. :)

[bedlamsbard]

I like Octavian best. He reminds me of Edmund, but Edmund is snarkier.

[sporky_rat]

Just wait until second season. Octavian gets interesting.