1-800-555-FEMA
I got a call from a friend of mine today. We hadn't talked in months, and we had a lot of catching up to do. She is a firefighter in a relatively dangerous city. She generally kicks ass. I want to be like her when I grow up.
Anyway, my friend told me that she had been out of town for a great deal of the fall season. She was dispatched by her fire department to New Orleans almost immediately after the hurricane. She wanted to help rescue people. She is a rescue worker. It is what she is trained to do.
I asked her what it was like. Did she help rescue people from flooded buildings? Nope. FEMA assigned her (and every other rescue worker she knew) to hand out brochures with FEMA's contact number on it. That's what she did all day. Kind of like those annoying "flyer guys" on Manhattan street corners who won't let you walk past without taking a piece of paper.
No rescues.
At night, she would go home to her hotel room, turn on the TV, and watch Sean Penn rescue people from flooded buildings.
FEMA sucks.
posted by Kim and Matt @ 11:11 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I enjoyed Friday's post about FEMA, Jo. The agency hasn't earned much in the way of laurels - and I live down here in the region.
I wonder about negotiation, however. "I'll do one day of handing out leaflets for every day you let me do my real job." Was that ever discussed?
As usual, you do a much better job on the pop culture end than I do...your particular forte, I think. All the best for a good week. RLB.
Nope. No negotiation. They reported, were given their oh-so-useful duties, and that was it.
You know what made it worse? The telephone numbers on the flyers were useless! So they got to deal with angry and desperate people who tried the number to no avail...
Thanks for the kudos, Richard. Have a great week!
Hi Jo
I've heard a similar story from a friend-of-a-friend, but I must say, you put it MUCH better!
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