After the storm

Manuel and his boat

Line 32878

[15:01] rond: Here is a sad/funny New Orleans evacuee story I was told yesterday
[15:01] rond: there is a guy named manual out at the camp I am working at
[15:01] rond: his wife and daughter and grand kids are at the camp
[15:01] rond: Manual is my age 47
[15:01] rond: he began to get his wife and family out of the house on Tuesday
[15:01] rond: his wife is pretty darn big
[15:02] josue_m: Manual or Manuel?
[15:02] rond: hmmmm
[15:02] rond: don't really know
[15:02] josue_m: k
[15:02] rond: hispanic name
[15:02] rond: but he is a black guy
[15:02] josue_m: then should be Manuel
[15:02] rond: k
[15:02] rond: so he gets a boat
[15:02] rond: to get his family into
[15:02] rond: and ends up getting them to this building where he places them
[15:02] rond: with some other people
[15:03] rond: they live on the roof the whole week
[15:03] rond: manuel goes out the rest of the week
[15:03] rond: with the boat
[15:03] rond: and rescues people
[15:03] rond: all week
[15:03] rond: starts at 6:00 am in the morning
[15:03] rond: ends at dusk in the evening
[15:03] rond: he never rides in the boat
[15:04] rond: only allows women and children in the boat
[15:04] rond: all men either have to hang on the outside
[15:04] rond: or walk and swim along
[15:04] rond: as the week progresses
[15:04] rond: he ends up almost getting in stupid fights several time
[15:04] rond: times
[15:04] rond: in one situation
[15:05] rond: he sees a family that needs rescued
[15:05] rond: when he gets near them
[15:05] rond: the whole family breaks out into a fight
[15:05] rond: he has no idea why
[15:05] rond: but he tells them
[15:05] rond: you guys go ahead and be that way
[15:05] rond: I have other business down the street
[15:05] rond: and goes to pull someone else out
[15:06] rond: well by thursday evening
[15:06] rond: he is just worn out
[15:06] rond: walking in waiste to neck deep water all day
[15:06] rond: and then trying to avoid the fights etc
[15:06] rond: he runs across this old woman
[15:07] rond: he approaches her
[15:07] rond: she begins to chew his ass out
[15:07] rond: :)
[15:07] rond: he trys to calm her down
[15:07] rond: she won't calm down
[15:07] rond: he is just fed up
[15:07] rond: as she is chewing him out
[15:08] rond: she says she is sorry she if she is insulting him
[15:08] rond: he said to her
[15:08] rond: ya know
[15:08] rond: has nothing to do with you insulting me
[15:08] rond: has everything to do with you just being ignorant
[15:08] rond: I have been out here all week in this nasty water
[15:09] rond: pulling people out
[15:09] rond: I have no time for ignorant people
[15:09] rond: you have 3 choices
[15:09] rond: you can sit there and be ignorant
[15:09] rond: or you can walk out of here
[15:09] rond: or you can swim out of here
[15:09] rond: I don't give a damn
[15:09] rond: I am not taking you in my boat
[15:10] rond: so he left her there
[15:10] rond: :)
[15:10] rond: he did ending up pulling around 80 people out of the water
[15:10] rond: on Friday
[15:10] rond: he got his family to the super dome early friday morning
[15:10] rond: he went out with the boat again
[15:11] rond: somehow ended up
[15:11] rond: being picked up by a helicopter
[15:11] rond: taken to the airport
[15:11] rond: he knew if he did not get back to the dome
[15:11] rond: he would be seperated from his family
[15:11] rond: tried to get them to take him to the dome
[15:12] rond: they said they could not
[15:12] rond: so he hiked 4 hours
[15:12] rond: back to the dome
[15:12] rond: after all that other walking the earlier part of the week
[15:12] rond: found his family
[15:12] rond: got on a bus that evening
[15:12] rond: and is now in Fort Worth

posted by Carl F Karsten @ 5:13 PM