Florida Revisited

Floridians are not as idiotic as I previously made them out to be. In fact, they are just like the rest of us, looking for a peaceful place to hang their hats and relax. Just about anywhere you try to live, there will be disasters both natural and man-made, so my hat's off to the folks in Florida who are under a second major storm in as many weeks. I think the pre-planning the state has done with evacuation routes and training is very helpful. Some folks just like to hang on till the bitter end when it comes to not evacuating expeditiously. Others simply can't get out.

Hopefully our federal resources are being surged to Florida to support the evacuation and what will likely be another nasty aftermath. While I'd prefer that our troops were home to head to Florida to help out, I understand that our commander in chief feels otherwise. While we are reorganizing national intelligence agencies to meet new challenges we might also ought to consider consolidating and improving our disaster response agencies so that we can more effectively plan for, handle, and clean up after these natural disasters. Having been through a man-made disaster myself, I can assure you that proper planning, proper handling during the disaster, and proper clean up can make all the difference (we had none of those three things our case, or limited at best). I've heard good reports of the national guard troops assisting after Charley went through Florida; I assume they will do so again with Frances. FEMA gets in on the act and helps out too, as do volunteers, Red Cross, and many others. But here I am making assumptions about a state I've only been in once for a few days and that on the northern end (Jacksonville, Panama City, Tallahassee). Perhaps we should all consider heading down there to help out. The trick will be finding lodging.

As you can tell by now, I will often put forth a strong opinion that sounds very one-sided. I may later offer another view of the same issue. Part of the problem I see in our country and our world is that all too often we have strong opinions and will not take into consideration other points of view. We tend to villify any way of thinking but our own. My way or the highway with no compromise. Sometimes that can have it's benefits, but other times it is just about the worst thing we can do. We need to be wise in choosing among our many options.

Floridians are not idiots, they just seem that way to some people who look closely at Florida only when it makes the national news. So I intend to learn more about Florida and indeed it is on my roadtrip route I have mapped out here in front of me that I will take when time and resources permit. I will walk a mile in their shoes, I have no doubt.