As hurricane Irma battered the Florida coast, thousands rushed into hastily organized shelters.
“All I got was rice cereal!” whined Ben into the reporter’s microphone. His voluminous belly peeked out beneath his shirt. “What happened to ham and eggs with gravy on toast? Is that so hard? I’m hungry!”
Nearby, a mother tried to soothe her baby. She had no diapers to give the squalling infant. A family stumbled in with nothing but drenched clothing and cuts from flying debris.
“Hey! Can we get a TV in here?” shouted Ben. “C’mon people!”
A harried volunteer, whose house was under water, finally had enough of Ben. “You think it’s better out there?” said Vanessa. “You wanna go?”
“Yeah, I do,” spat Ben. “Anything is better than going hungry in here!”
“I’ll show you the way out.”
Vanessa waited by the door. He’d retreat from the water rushing through the street…and something worse. Thirty seconds later Ben returned. His hands shook.
“Still hungry?” said Vanessa.
“Yep.”
“Gonna complain about it?”
“Nope.”
“Why not?” she smirked.
“There’s alligators in the water out there,” shuddered Ben. “They’re hungry too.”
_________________________________
Written for Sunday Photo Fiction: https://sundayphotofictioner.wordpress.com/2017/09/10/sunday-photo-fiction-september-10th-2017/
Author’s Notes:
As I write this, Hurricane Irma is hammering Florida. Conditions are so bad, emergency services are broadcasting that they cannot answer calls for help. Tens of thousands huddle in shelters.
Florida has lots of alligators as it is. I just wonder how many will enter the cities, riding on the storm surge.
This story is based on what I just saw on the news. I couldn’t believe my ears. I imagine that conditions in the shelter are poor. Probably ill-supplied and uncomfortable and no fun at all. Still, much thanks is due to the folks who organized these shelters with little time to plan. I think the alternatives to shelters, drowning or hurled by the winds against a building at 80mph are, in my humble opinion, worse.
EagleAye
Momus News 
See my little story. We are directly in her path. Heavy winds and light rain right now. The worse part will be later this afternoon through tomorrow morning. Hunkered down right now. If any bright side I now have some extra time to write some stories. Keeping my laptop fully charged until we lose power.
DJ
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Hang in there, Danny! I hope you are safe. It’s great that you’re still writing in the middle of all that sound and fury. Our thoughts are with you.
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90-100 mph winds. Trees down all over. No structural damage. No power (this is Wed). Est Sunday for power. No gas at gas stations. Few stores open. Plus it’s getting hot 90 today. Start car to charge iPhones. Hopefully a better tomorrow.
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Yikers! So no air conditioning? I’ve been wondering about that. I feel for you dude. Waiting til Sunday for power (I’ll bet that’s the best case scenario) is no fun! I hope things get sorted out there soon. Keep me posted!
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Praying things calm down and that you and your loved ones are safe, Danny.
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Still no power. This isWed. 90 -100 winds. No gas at stations. Few stores open. Should have power Sunday.
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Oh my! Anyone who hasn’t experienced something like this would have no idea of what it would be like. We experience a blackout for a couple of hours, and think we’re hard done by. All the very best, Danny.
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o three cheers for you to capture ENTITLEMENT in action – well done and I love how you connected this human theme it to this very current event – eat your rice cereal and be grateful
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Yep, that’s what I’m saying. When you’ve got nothing else, rice cereal is a banquet! I’ve been through times in my life where that would’ve been a luxury. Thanks so much for your thoughts. I appreciate it.
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oh my pleasure for sharing.
and I see this entitlement with so many people these days – ugh
have a nice day
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You really nailed “Attitude” here. 🙂
As to alligators, a blogger in Houston wrote an excellent post on the aftermath of Harvey in her area, including folks down the street holding up a small alligator they found in front of their place! I’ll see if I can find…ah! Here’s the link if you’re interested:
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I wonder if the alligators will complain about the quality of meat they´ll get over the next few days.
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Haha! I’ll be sure and ask them what they think. 😉
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Here in Australia, we are mostly spared from the hurricanes that plague Florida and Texas except for the top end of Australia where they cop some every year. Sadly, there is an attitude of entitlement everywhere these days. There’s a church not far from me who give out groceries to the needy every Tuesday. The same church has a food van who feeds the homeless twice a week in one of the local car parks. Some or the ‘needy’ who line up at the church a couple of hours before the doors open drive BMW’s and Volvo’s, have i-phones and chain smoke. I can’t help but notice the difference between them and the elderly who walk quite long distances, pulling one of those small personal shopping cart behind them. When my three kids were little and I was a single mother, there were times when we had very little in the pantry. I remember one time, all we had was a tin of beetroot and a packet of cornflakes. I walked my six-year-old at school and when I came home with the two little ones (1 & 3) a couple from the Salvation Army were at the front door with two boxes of groceries. God bless the Salvation Army.
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Yeah, that entitlement is everywhere. There’s always somebody who insists they get more than is available. Thanks for the great stories. That really expands on the point. Thanks so much, Lyn!
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There is a “soup kitchen” here that opens at 6 every night for two hours to feed the homeless in Dover. The ones who turn up are indeed homeless. When work on a multiplex cinema / shopping mall started, they had to move the trailer to another car park.
Six weeks after it had reopened in its new place, it had to close as there were too many complaints from people saying the homeless were disrupting the area and being too noisy. The biggest culprit for the complaints? The church.
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Are you kidding Al? Which church? They should be out there helping the soup kitchen. Jesus fed the hungry, they should be following His example.
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Amen to that.
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That was the uproar from the community. It was ridiculous. It was St James’ Church in Dover. Poor people had it bad enough, but then that. The people who did the soup kitchen sid they would go back to feeding out of the back of their cars if they had to.
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But isn’t St James’ church in Dover a non functioning church run by an historical society now? I mean they don’t have services there or anything do they?
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It is indeed. My apologies. I got the wrong church. That’s what happens when I don’t get out. It’s St. Paul’s church.
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I don’t get out much either. I’d much rather stay at home and read or write. LOL and as for going shopping…Aaargh!
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Supposedly the gators won’t be a problem.
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Yipes! I wasn’t thinking about zoo gators, I was thinking about wild ones thrust in by the surge. That article (nice find by the way) says those might still be a problem. Maybe a good time to avoid petting the scaly things. 😉
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It’s why I prefer living in Idaho to Florida, well, one of the reasons.
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Then all you’ve got to worry about are Mountain Lions, Wolves , and Bears, oh my! 😉
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Not in the suburbs. Our biggest disaster if you will, is being surrounded by forest fires. We’ve had horrible air quality lately, though we’re expecting some rain later this week.
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Love how you convey so much through conversation. Incredible! Thanks for sharing.
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Oh, thanks so much. I appreciate it. 🙂
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I can’t imagine being in an evacuation of any sort, and i hope if i were, i would not be behave as your character did. But given the stress level of everyone involved, i am sure people say a lot of things they later regret. This might be one of those times when we seek to understand first.
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Totally agree. I do sympathize with folks forced out of their homes by hurricanes. It’s a life-changing event and folks might not be at their best after it. Still, I hope I would behave better than that too. Thanks so much for your thoughts.
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Hope and pray that all who are in line of the fury of Irma are safe and sound. Great stories of human resilience and triumph amidst mounting adversities come out during such times. Yours was just one more in line and wonderfully revealed the sheer fury, angst, and hopelessness of ordinary men, women, and children caught in its wake. Very well written.
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I hope they’re safe too. Thanks so much for your thoughts!
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I think if he had looked around and seen what was going on, he would have been abe to understand the hurt and the pain of the less well off from the start, instead of looking around and seeing things that took up his space and enjoyment. Good story Eric
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Yep. He looked around, but he wasn’t “seeing.” He needed a wake up call. Thanks Al! 🙂
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Great take and so relevant.
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Glad you enjoyed the current events approach this time. Much appreciated!
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