Last Wednesday our town was ravaged by tornado's. We had two of them touch down right here in our town and do a huge amount of damage. One touched less than a quarter of a mile from my home. It looks like a bomb went off out there, right now. Houses on their sides, some just smashed, some with tress right through the tops. The trees look as though someone just grabbed them and snapped them in half. The entire landscape has changed. People have lost their homes, family members, everything they owned and loved. We have the local National Guard, Red Cross, and FEMA working day and night. We have churches organizing the donations that all of the community members have brought in.
Our family did not suffer any damage. We did not lose our home, electric, etc. My garden is flat, but my garden can be re-planted. We were extremely fortunate. So now, I have a friend who has turned this entire event into her very own personal tragedy. She and her husband lost their power for a day. Suddenly, (please do note the tad of sarcasm in this) her daughter who is five has PTSD, suddenly she is asking for donations of food because they had thing in their fridge go bad. (How hard is it to go to the store, buy bags of ice, fill the kitchen sinks and a few coolers?), suddenly she *personally* saw this tornado go overhead and was "scared to death that she and her family wouldn't make it out alive, yet she guided them to the safety of the kitchen" (?!) She has whined, complained, and made a mockery of the agony and loss others have suffered by making this tornado all about HER. I'm appalled. I tried tact:
"I think that people who complain about every single little thing need to volunteer their time with the tornado victims for a while. Then they may realize they don't have a whole lot to complain about. Please be thankful that all you lost was a little food from your fridge because your power went out for six hours."
I have tried not so tactful:
"Look - your griping is getting on my nerves. I'm sorry you lost food, but there are people out there who lost their lives and others who HAVE NOTHING. STOP!!"
and now I'm about ready to hang this friendship up. Yes, I'm nervous every time I look up at the sky and see clouds rolling in and the wind picking up, but criminy! I'M ALIVE! I have a home, my daughter, my animals. I am not going without. We are not one of the hundreds of families who were living in our area who lost their homes and are now crammed into an emergency "bedding facility", reliant on donations and praying that the babies get enough to eat at every meal. And that is just in OUR town. Several other towns were hit too!! I am really really angry right now. I spent a few days in a row with my little girl helping to serve meals, hand out bottled water, sort toy/clothing/toiletries into bags. These folks are scared/feeling desolate and hopeless and wondering how they are going to pick up the pieces of their lives and this very very selfish woman I know is complaining about food in her fridge going bad?! Gahhhhh
Thank you for listening **end rant**
Our family did not suffer any damage. We did not lose our home, electric, etc. My garden is flat, but my garden can be re-planted. We were extremely fortunate. So now, I have a friend who has turned this entire event into her very own personal tragedy. She and her husband lost their power for a day. Suddenly, (please do note the tad of sarcasm in this) her daughter who is five has PTSD, suddenly she is asking for donations of food because they had thing in their fridge go bad. (How hard is it to go to the store, buy bags of ice, fill the kitchen sinks and a few coolers?), suddenly she *personally* saw this tornado go overhead and was "scared to death that she and her family wouldn't make it out alive, yet she guided them to the safety of the kitchen" (?!) She has whined, complained, and made a mockery of the agony and loss others have suffered by making this tornado all about HER. I'm appalled. I tried tact:
"I think that people who complain about every single little thing need to volunteer their time with the tornado victims for a while. Then they may realize they don't have a whole lot to complain about. Please be thankful that all you lost was a little food from your fridge because your power went out for six hours."
I have tried not so tactful:
"Look - your griping is getting on my nerves. I'm sorry you lost food, but there are people out there who lost their lives and others who HAVE NOTHING. STOP!!"
and now I'm about ready to hang this friendship up. Yes, I'm nervous every time I look up at the sky and see clouds rolling in and the wind picking up, but criminy! I'M ALIVE! I have a home, my daughter, my animals. I am not going without. We are not one of the hundreds of families who were living in our area who lost their homes and are now crammed into an emergency "bedding facility", reliant on donations and praying that the babies get enough to eat at every meal. And that is just in OUR town. Several other towns were hit too!! I am really really angry right now. I spent a few days in a row with my little girl helping to serve meals, hand out bottled water, sort toy/clothing/toiletries into bags. These folks are scared/feeling desolate and hopeless and wondering how they are going to pick up the pieces of their lives and this very very selfish woman I know is complaining about food in her fridge going bad?! Gahhhhh
Thank you for listening **end rant**
I changed her name to "Lady who gripes")
