Sharing stories

Today there were a few noteworty events from my run. It was Good Ol' Mom's (the lady that baked us the pie) birthday, so we presented her with a potted flower and some cookies. She was flattered.

Mississsippi Baa gave me a gift to give to my India Baa... a little charm/ornament angel. I couldn't believe it. She said that she wanted to thank my grandmother for sending me out here to help her out. It turns out that MS Baa has a home in New Orleans that was badly damaged, and was going there tomorrow to check it out. She said she was going to bring me back some more stuff, related to Mardi Gras.

This was the last night for my Mercury coworkers who had also come to volunteer. They wanted to go out for dinner, so we drove into Gulf Port where the TGI Friday's had opened. During dinner we shared a lot of stories from our experience. Here are the ones I could remember:

1. Huy, one of my co-workers, is Asian. He had some rough experiences with racism while serving on the ERV. One client, a regular on his route, reffered to him as "Ugly", and would ask other volunteers things like, "you got Ugly servin' today?" He also said he got a lot of mean looks from people, adults and youngsters alike. He described them looking at him "as if he wasn't there". I was pretty shocked and asked him if it hurt his spirits at all. He said no, but I'm sure it would have affected me.
2. A lot of people were getting disgruntled with the ERV service, especially people who didn't need aid in the first place. Samantha described one lady who chewed her out for not having medical service packs. She had a nice SUV parked out front of her in-tact home. She also got belligerent when taking meals, etc. One other guy had a phone bill he never paid, and walked up to the ERV asking what he should do. Pay the bill, perhaps (he wasn't poor)?
3. Mike (not a coworker, just a friend who came along) had a nice story about a kid who was mowing lawns for his family to make ends meet. He told Mike that his mower had busted, so the next day Mike gets some volunteers to chip in and buys the kid a brand new one. He said the kid just wrapped his arms around him and was ecstatic.
4. Mike was saying a lot of people had unattended medical problems out in the field. One man had cancer but hadn't seen a doctor in months. Another man had Parkinsons and came up to the ERV shaking violently. Another hispanic worker had a huge hernea on his side and complained that his "jefe" wouldn't allow him to get it checked out. Red Cross has medical staff, so ERV drivers are supposed to note down any issues and have a nurse go out and treat people in need. Hopefully these guys will get taken care of.
5. Allen's ERV does a stationary feeding in front of a stadium during their run. One day a car pulled up along side the ERV window like it was a drive through (the window is only meant for people to walk up). Then another car gets behind, then another. Soon there's a line of 7 cars trying to get drive-thru Red Cross disaster relief. Then an old lady on a Rascal gets in line. Allan has this hilarious picture of the lady on her scooter in line with a bunch of cars. I'll try and get it.

Tidbits:

- I learned more men vs. women facts today that I thought were really interesting:

1. Did you know that it is universally true that women don't actually sit on public toilet seats? Instead, they "hover" (as my coworkers called it) over the seat as they go. A seat cover isn't enough protection. I was shocked and awed about this. What leg strength... what stubourness. I can't think of any guy who would do that. The next morning I tried to do it, but in the end I said screw it.
2. Women's clothing has buttons and zippers set opposite to men's clothing. This one blew me away, although I understand this is general knowledge. Is this really necessary?