[Claire]

I am so angry with this post Katrina world that I live in.
Pre-Katrina I rented a 2 bedroom 1 1/2 bath townhome in a great part of town. I lived 2 blocks off of Lake Ponchatrain, I could see the lake from my driveway. I paid $475/mo Now a 2 bedroom townhome is going fo $1500 -$2000 a month. They are so ripping people off down here! How in the hell do they expect people to live? The rate of pay has not gone up, unless you work at a fast food chain. Burger King is offering $9.00/hr with a $2000 sign on bonus. All of the jobs I have interviewed for they are offering less then that, am I supost to suck it up and go work for Burger King ??????? (not saying that it is a horrible place to work...but) People are ripping people off down here, they are ripping people off that right now really need the help so that they can survive. It makes me so mad. Why do people feel the need to try and make a quick buck off of people who have lost everything? There were these condo's that pre-Katrina, they were selling them for $85,500 each... now they want $130,000... I drove by and they had literly just stuck a sticker over the old price, I wanted so bad to rip that sticker off so that people could see how much they were being screwed!
The whole thing, all that is going on here, just makes me sick.
Then there are the repair men who are going to repair roofs and accidently start ripping off the roof on the wrong house, what do they do, they just stop and leave the damage and go on to find the correct home. People are comming home to find that their roof has been half way ripped off due to a mistake. Do the contractors pay for it, NO, the homeowner does. And those poor people who come home to find that their home has been looted. All of the possessions that they managed to save are gone. It just makes me sick to my stomach. Then there are the tourists that come to see the damage in Lakeview and they decide that it is ok to go into someone's home and take a souvionere (SP). That little thing you just took, well it may be that homeowners only possession left in the whole world. You know, I drove through Lakeview, but I was respectful. I did not take one picture, I did not get out of my car. Why did I go, because I have lived here my entire life and I wanted to feel for one moment what they are feeling.
I could go on forever about all of this.
Thanks for letting me vent.