Other Columns by Doug Patton
Doug Patton Bio

Printer-Friendly Version

Donald Robertson just moved to Omaha. It was a rather sudden move, precipitated by the worst natural disaster in the history of the country. He really had not planned to visit Nebraska, let alone move here. Yet, here he is, displaced like thousands of others by Hurricane Katrina to a new city filled with new people and new challenges. And yet, he is happy.

He is happy to be alive. He is happy that he has been welcomed with open arms by people he has never known. He is happy that he has a skill honed over the last 25 years. And he is happy to be able to help others.

Robertson is 58 years old. Everything he owned was in his New Orleans apartment when the hurricane rocked the city. A black man with a quarter-century of experience as a Cajun chef in the food capital of the nation, Robertson arrived in a strange midwestern city with a grin on his face and a willingness to work.

He is grateful for the help he has received, but he is anxious to earn his way in his new community. With the use of the facilities in a local pizza shop, he has already cooked a veritable Creole feast of jambalaya, gumbo and muffaletta sandwiches for 500 at a Katrina benefit dinner. After that experience, Robertson said with a laugh that he thinks he will stay and open a Cajun restaurant right here in Omaha.

In the midst of a federal mobilization the likes of which the nation has not seen (nor paid for) since the Great Depression, Donald Robertson's story is the real story of America. It is the story of people helping people who want to help themselves. It is Americans reaching out to people they don't even know for reasons that they may not even understand. All they know is that this is America and that is what we do here.

President Bush's speech to the nation from New Orleans has sent rays of hope into the shattered lives of many along the Gulf Coast. At the same time, it should send shivers of trepidation down the spines of American taxpayers as they realize that this could be the most expensive bailout in history.

Infrastructure will need to be rebuilt, but one wonders into whose hands those gargantuan federal checks will be placed, and many questions cry out for answers. Who will be in charge? Will it be the same notoriously corrupt (mostly Democrat) politicians who ran Louisiana for 75 years? Will there be work requirements placed on those individuals who receive help from the federal government? Will there be opportunities for those receiving that aid to give back? What about a special enlistment bonus for law-abiding, able-bodied men (and women) who would like to join the U.S. Army?

>> Continued -- Page 1 2