2005 - 09-15-05

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.

Bernadette didn't know if her apartment had survived the
hurricane. She was hopeful because it was on the second
floor of her building. She had a son in New Orleans who had
tried to board up his house but was unable to finish the job
and forced to evacuate the area by the New Orleans Police.
If I remember correctly, her son's house was close to her
apartment.

Bernadette told me she had just auctioned off most of her
possessions before she ever left New Orleans. She asked me,
"They'll have to pay me won't
they? After all, my possessions were auctioned off before
the hurricane." Apparently, when you work with an
auction house, you don't get paid until 30 days after your
items have been
sold. But again, she was asking me, "They'll have to pay me, won't
they? I mean, after all, my stuff was auctioned off before
the hurricane."