Here's one I haven't seen on here yet, although I admit to not reading every single posting on the subject:

We are bombarded with requests to help. Every TV show shows the Red Cross "1-800-HELP-NOW" across the bottom of the screen. The newspapers and local TV news give various methods of providing relief. Boxes are set up in stores to donate food and supplies.

Here's my deal: I lived through the 1993 Mississippi River floods and am still traumatized by it. Somehow my little enclave managed to stay dry, but a road 2 miles away that I often used as a shortcut home was under 9 feet of water (I'm not kidding; they put up a marker and you can still see the waterline on it). HIGHWAY RAMPS were underwater. I had friends in the situation you see on TV now, needing boat rescues and their houses up to their roofs in water, etc.

But I was THERE, and I could go sandbag, and I could DO something.

Now I live in Wisconsin. Packers football is the state religion, and Brett Favre is God. Brett's parents' house got wiped out by the hurricane. There was a story on the news last night about how the plane service he charters was taking rope and diapers and all sorts of stuff down there. They interviewed one guy who said, "Well, I can't go there myself, so I figured I'd do this instead." He donated three brand-new chainsaws, still in the box, and I forget what else.

This time, I can't do anything. I just got paid. I paid my rent and my car insurance. I have roughly $70 until the 15th. I have two meds that will need paying for ($30 total). My last tank of gas, which WILL BE my last tank of gas, given my cash condition, cost $31 for 9.3 gallons. I drive 250 miles a week just getting to and from my office, much less having to drive to assignments all over hell and gone. I have almost no food in the house, and I make way too much (still not enough, but too much) for food stamps or to utilize food pantries.

And then I see all this "HELP NOW" stuff all over the place, and geeze -- I can't even help my frickin' SELF, but seeing this everywhere makes me feel guilty for not being able to do anything. It's to the point I don't want to turn on the TV or read the paper (and I'm a journalist!), because I can't deal with it. It just makes me feel like a loser and a rotten person because I can't do anything when everybody else is.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Candy