I'm going out on a limb here as a first time diarist. I'm asking for help from the community as a long time lurker for help in responding to an email from my mom. More after the fold.
As a little girl, I spent a lot of time in Greensburg Kansas. My grandfather (Dad's dad) was the minister for the Kansas Christian Church for 10+ years, which was located across the street from the "big well". My summers there included lots of time at the big well gift shop, as it was HOT and there was no airconditioning then. I also spent significant time at the local swimming pool and the basement of the church, which was also cool. The town had a great drugstore soda fountain where I can remember buying cherry cokes for 5 cents. When the news came out last Friday of the devastation, I felt a visceral pain for the people of this community. Having grown up in Kansas, I've spent considerable time in the cellar. I have a son who lives in Wichita who for the first time is dealing with this first hand.
Now on to the request for help from the community. I heard from my mom today that she was outraged to hear a "news commentator" say that the people in Greensburg were this years Katrina victims. She claimed that the people of Kansas are "hard working people, not likely to go on the dole, unlike the people of NOLA who are all looking for a government handout". A disclaimer, my mom is a faux news junkie. We have not had a discussion about anything political for the term of George's tenure. And there have been fireworks. I now really feel a need to show her some stats about the working conditions in Greensburg vs NOLA and apparently am a putz in the research department. I can't seem to find any labor stats about who is working, the wage that they earn or who receives assistance from local or federal organizations. I know from past experience that even with solid factual evidence, I cannot overcome faux, but still I try. Thanks for your help. I can stick around for an hour.