Chaos reigns at free gas fiasco
“The guidance is to get gas to first responders, but we’re also pushing regular people through,” admitted Captain Terry Benson of the National Guard’s 69th Infantry Regiment.
But regular people like Belaniel Daley were fed up.
“I’ve been at the front of the line for 2 1/2 hours and now they want to move the tanker and they’re just giving to the first responders, who I’m sure are getting gas for their family and friends,” said Daley, 45. “I need this gas to get my kid to school.”
After living through Hurricane Irene here in Vermont in 2011, it's not difficult to understand what can transpire during the aftermath. Basements get flooded, businesses get destroyed, whole homes get washed away and people die. The world, as you know it, is gone. There are weeks and weeks of mucking out toxic mud. There are piles and piles of debris and trash to haul away. There are bad dreams and insecurities to deal with.
I'm not a heartless person, but it behooves me to understand, why amongst all this chaos and confusion, someone's priorities would be focused on returning their child to 'school' when everyone around them have barely enough to eat and are without basic shelter, clothing and security. Daley's statement about needing gas to "get my kid to school" strikes me as rather odd and selfish. As though, getting the children of New York City back into schooling were some sort of wonderful or divine accomplishment.
As veteran homeschoolers we all know her 'kid' will learn whether he/she returns to school or not. That's just the way children are designed. Unless Daley's own home is totally devoid of books, activities and experiences for her child, that youngster will still learn, in or out of school, with or without electricity or gasoline. Of course, there could be extenuating circumstances that are driving this mom to get her child back into school so soon after this natural disaster. It just seems to me that focusing one's energy and resources toward getting your 'kid' back to public schooling so soon after all this devastation is a misplaced priority.
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| Hurricane Irene 2011 |
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1 comment:
It's a bit odd how worried people get about this sort of thing. People could become VERY well educated back in the 1800s, and that was in the days of wood-burning stoves and slates. It's learning. It'll happen. And really, what better place to learn about self-sufficiency, helping people out, the effects of natural disasters, and how local government works in a crisis than in the middle of hurricane aftermath?
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