5 years

Alot of things can happen in five years. I know Rome wasn't built in a day but I'm pretty sure after five years they had a pretty good start on it. The Empire State Building took about a year to build. The Golden Gate Bridge took about four years. The whining about New Orleans has lasted five years with no end in sight.

I saw in the Star Telegram this morning that the residents of New Orleans and the Ninth Ward in particular are complaining that not enough has been done to help them rebuild. First, and I know this is crazy talk, how about let's all live in places that are above sea level. You know, just in case something bad should happen like another big storm or something. Secondly, how much help do you people want? The word "help" implies that we are going to do this together. Having been to the area three times since Katrina and having busted my hump tearing out walls, roofing houses, using a chainsaw to remove limbs and trees and cleaning up in every way I'm wondering what the problem really is.

Don't get me wrong. I was glad to help and would go back in a flash if and when I'm needed but in my experience it is time for New Orleans to put on its big girl panties and get to work. Pity parties get old pretty quick and I'm tired of bringing the cake. Many times I was sweating on top of a roof using a hammer and nails while the able-bodied homeowner was below me on the porch working a 40-ounce. I tore out walls of a house while the owner watched tv in his government-provided FEMA trailer parked on his lawn. I traveled at my own expense to get there and work on houses that were owned by people I did not know and would never see again while all the men of the neighborhood sat in lawn chairs and watched. Pardon me if I'm not as much the "Helpy Helperton" I used to be.

C'mon Nawlens! It's time to cowboy up. Nashville had horrible flooding recently as well and it barely made the news because the citizens immediately went to work helping each other. Emphasis on "helping" in that sentence. They worked together instead of complaining that the government and everybody else owed them something. I know times are hard but it has been five years and yes, more should have been done by now. Much more, New Orleans.