At the Point When You Have No Hope...Hell Sets In-Haiti

[kayla9170]

Imagine Haiti was your town, your street, in your neighborhood. Some of your neighbors and maybe your family, has spend the last 50 or so hours without fresh water or proper food. The people of Haiti are poorer for the most part so X-Box's, I-Pod and Laptops would be out of the question. Your cell phone access would be non-existent and your home is a pancake. I think about if a earthquake was in my state, in Michigan....in the winter and we had no home because it was crushed...like a pancake. It would be very cold outside.

The kids (in America) are running around complaining about not having access to their room, their bed, their DVD, their Flat Screen TV...you know our kids are spoiled in America. Gas is at $45.00 a gallon and runs on the local gas stations with the CCW Conceal Weapon Permitted Guns and the other guns that are just on the street (America and its' Guns, you know) are the new normal. Some people, unable to survive the cold (or warm in Southern and some Western States) the elderly, the children, people with other ailments are lining up in the streets. Some decreased and beginning to smell.

Military Police state has taken over America....to little effect because the unrest-less people have taken to straight marital law against the law enforcement. In Haiti, there is no law enforcement at the moment.

Fifty hours in America, going though what the people of Haiti has lived though, so far. The people of Haiti are use to a certain amount of suffering. They have little and make it with what they have. Now they have nothing. The bodies are lying up, aid is coming but "being coordinated". there is no government to speak of at the moment, the sick are sleeping in the park and on streets, Dominican Republic has closed it borders but helping as it can to immediate medical needs(like I am sure that Canada and Mexico would do to us), no clean water, no lights.....no hope, at the moment. Hell sets in Haiti right now.

How long before a complete state of breakdown and desperation take hold? If this was America, it would have probably been 10 hours, max...all hell would have broken loose. Haitians have lasted 50 hours and counting without going bad crap crazy. How long will this last? When will the aid come? What will be the result?

Thank God, at this point, it is not America because I hate to think of what our spoiled society would have already done to each other.

God Bless the suffering people of Haiti.............

[stray cat]

1. And some people here moan about the US being a 3rd world country

it shows how ill informed people are about real suffering and poverty in the world

[gateley]

2. The thought of being without internet access seriously makes my heart beat

a little faster. If that's what I consider 'having nothing' I'm not sure how I'd survive a scenario you paint. I've been trying to put myself in the picture as I've been watching the coverage these past few days, and it's impossible. I have no concept.

I would probably give up. The courage and will of these people is inspirational.

[virgogal]

3. I have more faith in the American public than you do.

[kayla9170]

6. In a similar situation like what is facing Haiti right now???

On 9/11, the people on the ground (not in the building, not the firefighters or first aid personnel in the building) still could get away (after waiting hours to get home) from most of the destruction of the Twin Towers. After they got home, they were able to take a shower, call relatives to let them know they were OK, eat dinner, turn on the TV for news coverage, etc.

What if those same individuals on the ground during the tragedy could not leave New York over no bridge, tunnel or waterway for 50 plus hours......Bad crap crazy (beyond the point of what the incidents were themselves already) would have been one more way to describe how some of those people would have reacted. The people of Haiti are GREAT SOULS and PEOPLE for handling this tragedy so well so far.

[Mojorabbit]

9. I do too

I always keep a stockpile of supplies and having been through disasters including Hurricane Charley here at home where neighbors helped each other and pooled supplies. I also camped in my sister's yard in Biloxi beside her destroyed home after Katrina. The neighbors stood together to salvage what could be salvaged, guarded the street during the night when prowlers were about, and church groups came in and proceeded to help us complete gutting the interior of the house where mold was taking hold, bleaching it out, and getting it ready for rebuilding. People are mostly wonderful after a disaster in my experience.

[Hekate]

13. As do I. We are resourceful when we need to be. Kids without electronic toys ...

... get yanked back into the real world when they are needed there for real, and they would be.

Hekate

[LakeSamish706]

4. My hope is that we help these people as much as we can and let the dust settle...

where it does.

Here is a donation site that I used for those that would like to.

http://doctorswithoutborders.org/

[Cirque du So-What]

5. I never realized how many pessimists inhabit DU

until this earthquake hit Haiti. Projecting your own insecurities onto the rest of society accomplishes nothing - other than make those of us who have actually lived through disasters to wonder what the fuck you people are on about!

[kayla9170]

7. You believe that this is pessimists speak......

I hope a tragedy like this NEVER happen in America. My heart ACHES for the people of Haiti. I have donated also.

But we are a spoiled society. We drive our cars, live in our houses, have food in our refrigerators, I have access to this computer and internet tonight and looking at the news coverage on my flat screen TV. The people of Haiti, might lived in SHACK before this Earthquake and that is it. Still, their FAITH is what leading them to hold on......just holding on for help to come.

I hope the aid gets to these people QUICKLY and this coordination is FAST! Still, I just wonder how long they can hold on and personally. Also, for the most part, I do not think our spoiled society could have this well, so far.

[Posteritatis]

12. The default mood on DU is less pessimism and more martyred despair generally. (nt)

[Cirque du So-What]

14. Whatever colorful euphemism one chooses to employ

it sucks out loud! I don't care how much the OP protests that people in our society are 'spoiled,' I've seen what people can do when they pull together, and I assure everyone (those who care to LISTEN, that is) that Americans pull together in an emergency, and that 'spoiled' is not a word that comes to mind when the observer encounters Americans working as a team. Everything else is bullshit and useless conjecture, and if someone wants to be a martyr, I wish they'd go do it on their own time, do it quietly and privately & leave everyone else the hell alone!

[katanalori]

8. Beautifully written Kayla........

God Bless the suffering people of Haiti.

[Dappleganger]

10. Haitiens are very strong.

They are survivors and will get through this. They live in the moment, are grateful for small things and have a lot of faith. I believe that they are going to be ok but they will need a lot of help from the rest of us for awhile, but there is much we can learn from them.

[Missy Vixen]

11. We went without power for a week in December, 2007

The Seattle area experienced a Cat 3 hurricane -- oops, windstorm, that knocked out power to a million and a half people and did some significant damage. It was nothing like what's going on in Haiti right now, but truly, we were starting to see people coming unraveled as soon as three days later. At Day 5, I told my husband that we needed to stay out of public places as much as possible, and the National Guard was going door-to-door in our small town to check on people. (The Snoqualmie Valley functioned as a wind tunnel; the head of Puget Sound Energy said the damage in our town was the worst he'd ever seen in an area that's had significant windstorms previously.)

My husband used to laugh at me because we moved into a house with a good-sized pantry, and I keep it stocked. He's not laughing anymore. It got us through that week.

Let's put it this way: We had clean water. We had a gas stove, fireplace and hot water heater; we could cook, and keep ourselves clean. We had food. It wasn't exciting, but it was food. Our house was very cold, but we had layers of clothing and outerwear. We managed to amuse ourselves by listening to a battery-powered radio, and reading in daylight.

Other people were getting into fights at the few open gas stations, descending on our town's City Hall to demand why there were not "organized activities" for children, and generally acting ugly. This was one week.

I don't think I'll ever forget it.

I can't even imagine what's going on in Haiti right now.

[malaise]

15. Nice post

Rec