2005 - 09-15-05

I don't think more money needs to be
contributed to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. What I
think is really needed, is more people with at least half a
brain working on the problems created by the disaster. I
believe $100 in the hands of a capable, intelligent person
will provide more relief for those victims than $10,000 in
the hands of a corrupt or ineffective organization.
(Like Halliburton.)

But, there is a lot of goodness in the
hearts of the people of the world. A lot of us have a
genuine feeling of an overwhelming need to do something to
help those who have suffered from such a disaster. And, I have an idea I would like to throw out to
all of my readers (if for no other reason) than to give you
something to think about.

Very recently, I was flying back from a short trip to
Costa Rica on American Airlines Flight 972 and I was sitting
in seat 11D. Sitting next to me in seat 10D was a woman named
Bernadette Lewis. Her husband died of cancer at a very early
age. I learned from talking with her a few interesting
things.

First, her father-in-law was Sinclair Lewis
(now deceased of course), the first American writer to win
the Pulitzer Prize. Bernadette is 77 years old. She
had just recently moved from France to New Orleans. After she got
herself set up in an apartment, she decided to take a trip
to Costa Rica to visit her relatives there.

Her return flight from Costa Rica to New
Orleans was scheduled for the day Katrina hit New Orleans.
Naturally, Bernadette was stuck in Costa Rica and she had
to wait quite some time before she could get another return
flight. But when she made those new return flight
arrangements, it only included her
flying to Miami and then to Tampa. She didn't know how (or
if) she could return to New Orleans. And, of course, American
Airlines charged her extra because of the change in her
travel plans.