"Disaster Relief" by Troy H. Cheek on Jun 14, 2004

Seems like we're having a "Storm of the Century" every week or so nowadays. Natural disasters (is it possible to have an UNnatural disaster?) are big news. I'm sure it won't be long before the National Weather Service and the Weather Channel start paying people to start bad weather just to boost the ratings, much like the way CNN and Fox News have been paying people to start wars for years.

A recent weather-related disaster got me thinking about something I'd read in the paper quite a while back.

It was in one of those national syndicated advice column things. I'd tell you exactly which one, but I didn't clip and save. Enough things catch my interest that if I started clipping and saving, I wouldn't have room left for my computer. Or bed.

Irregardless, in this particular column, a young lady was complaining about the aid she had received after a recent disaster. It seems that she had received a shipment of canned food which, in her words, nobody would want to eat. She'd also received a shipment of clothes which, in her words, were so out of style that nobody would want to wear them. She had similar comments about the eating utensils, bedclothes, etc. She said it looked like people had just cleaned out their pantries, closets, and garages instead of going out and buying new items for her. She ended up having the whole lot hauled off with the debris from the storm (or flood or fire or whatever it was). What she had really needed, it seems, was cash so that she could go out and buy the stuff she needed in the styles she wanted.

The kicker was that instead of soundly thrashing this young lady, the person writing the column reminded her readers that the Red Cross now accepts credit cards!

I remember not too many years ago people telling me to NEVER send money to disaster areas. The guidelines said that food, clothing, and supplies were always the way to go. In the event of a major disaster, you see, normal shipping breaks down. Stores run out of stuff, so all the money in the world won't help. Much better to buy something here, where the trucks are still running, than to send the money there, where it isn't. Besides, if you believe the insurance company commercials, they'll have your check cut before the flood waters receed anyway.

As for the young lady complaining about the food she wouldn't eat off the plates she wouldn't while sitting on a box of clothes she wouldn't wear... I have to wonder if she was even in town when the disaster hit. I've lost items to water, fire, and theft. I've never turned down an offer to replace them, even if the replacement was something I wouldn't have bought myself.

While in college, which is as close as many of us will ever get to being homeless, I bought a small can of pork brains in milk gravy. I forget who makes this product, but I understand that they are still available in finer grocery stores. I placed this in my pantry, which was the second shelf from the bottom in a stack of old milk crates, right below the microwave. Whenever I'd start thinking that I couldn't stomach another cheese sandwich or bowl of beef noodle soup, I'd see that can of pork brains in milk gravy. Hmm, I'd think. I wonder what Tuna Helper and Spam would taste like? And then I'd think "I may be so hungry I'm eating Cream of Chicken Soup sandwiches, but at least I'm not hungry enough to eat pork brains in milk gravy."

The young lady doing the complaining, I think, wasn't hungry enough to eat pork brains in milk gravy, either. Which makes me wonder if she was hungry enough to be getting disaster relief to begin with.

I once went hiking with two friends of mine - Greg and Interstate James. We got a late start, so we skipped breakfast. The hike ran longer than we thought, so by lunch time we were still in the middle of the woods, miles from the nearest Applebee's. We dined on beef jerky and water, but it tasted better than any steak and wine I'd ever had.

Sure, people might clean out their pantries, closets, and garages when it comes time to donate to disaster relief efforts. And I don't see anything wrong with that. If I'm hungry, an old can of soup is as good as filet mignon. If I'm cold, granny's old blanket is as good as brand new satin sheets. If the only clothes I have are rags, I don't care if you offer me pants that went out in the 60's and shirts that went out in the 70's, I'll wear them.

Disaster relief is not about replacing or even improving on everything a person lost; we're helping them get past the disaster so they can rebuild their lives on their own. We're giving something that they can live on for today, tomorrow, or next week, just until they can get back on their feet. Once the trucks are running, once the insurance check comes, once the banks are open, then they can rebuild. It's a sad state of affairs when someone survives a disaster, and instead of thanking God that she has survived, instead of thanking all the strangers who took the time and effort to give her food and clothing, she complains that the disaster relief is not going to maintain her in the style in which she had become accustomed.

And here I thought cats were finicky eaters. Then again, while I've seen a cat turn his nose up a time or two, I've never seen one actually starve to death. I bet if that young lady got hungry enough, she wouldn't turn her nose up.

I bet a can of pork brains in milk gravy on it.

Note: An edited version of this article was first published on Sep 17, 1999.

Copyright 2004 by Troy H. Cheek. Reprint with prior written permission only. Comments and questions to $mail:theview$