Our First Katrina Refugees

Jay Honeck wrote:

A bunch of buses went down from DC and came back mostly empty as well.
Washington and Iowa aren't on the top of people's list to relocate to.

DC I understand, but I wonder what the beef is with Iowa ... unless
they've been reading Jay's recent posts ... :-)


Well, given the number of states that have offered space -- and been ignored
or turned down -- perhaps the crisis is past?

Dunno, but doesn't it seem odd that folks are choosing to live in a flooded
cesspool rather than accepting free housing all over the country?

No, it doesn't. Accepting free housing all over the country means
leaving home and accepting change. These people are already going to
have to deal with more "change" than they ever wanted - they don't
want to add any more if they can help it.

These are people who cannot conceive of moving even to someplace like
Monroe, LA, because it would be so far from home and family, and it's
not just the under-educated that think this way. (My wife worked with
an engineer who turned down a job offer that would have involved an
equivalent scale of relocation because his wife thought this way.) It's
also an attidude that is not limited to the deep south - I've seen it
expressed even more forcefully in Appalachia.

To you and me the decision would be a no-brainer. These people aren't
you and me.