The Pub:

I received a call from our Fire Chief last Sat. night at about midnight. He told me to get to the training center and get the other new guys to meet me there. I got to the training center and left for Camp Gruber just outside of Muskogee OK. Over 2,000 refugees were on there way and they didn't have enough emergency medical support to help with all the emergencies. So they called us in.

It had just finished raining when we got there and it was muddy and cool. The very first bus pulls up and the very first lady off the bus collapses. Her blood sugar was out of control because she hadn't had her insulin in days. She died almost immediately and they were unable to bring her back. The buses had to make several stops along the way so that ambulances could come and get bodies off of the buses. One man hadn't had his dialysis in 8 days and several others were in really bad shape because they hadn't had any medical attention for some time.

Most of these people had been on buses for almost 48 hours and had nothing but the clothes on their backs and whatever they might be able to carry. Which was usually just their children. We gave them food, blankets and medical attention. They told us that this was the first time that anyone had even addressed them as people let alone be kind to them. It was a terrible thing to see. We got them all checked in and moved into the barracks where they could, for the first time in days, sleep in a real bed.

Many of them had come from the stadium in New Orleans where they said it was like living a nightmare. People were dying from disease all over the place and others were being robbed, raped, and killed. They were so happy to be in Braggs OK, which they had never heard of and where many of them will never leave.

Most of them were black, with the occasional lower class white individual. It makes me so angry to hear people say, "Well they were warned, they should have just left". If you had seen these people you would realize how incredibly arrogant and ignorant that is. These people are a direct product of systematic oppression and there was no way in hell they could have left. Now what they had has been destroyed. I am glad that I could be there to help them and I was moved by the kindness of the other volunteers. But it is days like those that remind me how insanely hard it is for me to believe in a person God who wants good things for his "children".

I hope good things for those beautiful and lonely people.

Does life get any better than this. I submit that it DOES NOT!

Just kidding.

Though the world is in shambles and life is difficult for many even in our own country today, life is getting better personally. Not sure if its the Zoloft of what, but things are looking up.

It's been two weeks since I started taking it and the moods are really starting to even out for me. I'm not in a good mood all the time but it is nice to be able to experience emotions without feeling like I'm completely disconnecting from the world.

I also did some speed dating last week. If your single, and looking, this is definately the way to go. It was a blast. I've gotten about 3 date opportunities out of it already. Sweeet! Anyhow, life is good. The meds have made me a bit less contemplative than I normally am but I will try to post something with some meat to it soon.

P.s. Looks like OU is going to BLOW this year. Holla