Reply #3: many people have already found better lives elsewhere

[pitohui]

almost everyone i knew before the storm -- and i have lived here for over three decades -- has left or is leaving

this week i helped another friend pack -- this friend has never had one opportunity in 30 years of living in new orleans, finally, she is getting a "real" job w. a chance for advancement on the west coast

it sucks here, if we could afford it, we'd be gone too

we do the hard dirty work of the world, the oil refineries, the sugar refinery, the transport of goods through the port, and no one cares or appreciates

large areas are not being rebuilt because people are not coming back or they have come back and realized this is bullshit, in other places public schools are BETTER than expensive private schools so middle class and poor kids get educated (you know, the kids who will actually have to WORK unlike the richies?), in other places there are actually jobs, you can walk down a street at night w.out somebody shooting at you

MOST of the city was destroyed as far as residential areas but it won't be completely rebuilt because many residents have some ability that is of value elsewhere -- it's a bit shocking to learn that a nurse in alabama makes more than in new orleans for just one example -- katrina is opening the eyes of those who have transportable skills

we should all get out and see how well this nation does w.out our oil and gas, our sugar, our port

i'm sorry if i sound angry but it's because i am angry, not at you but at the way we've been crapped on

nobody should come back if they have a better deal elsewhere