Shreveport is a nice town. The tasteful houses are carefully arranged in suburban rows. The strip malls have decorative facia that immitates the look of multiple shops lined up elbow-to-elbow. There’s ample parking. And they’ve got all the major brands: Chick-Fil-A, Borders, Hollywood Video, Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, Pottery Barn…
The people here don’t seem to have many tatoos, and nobody speeds up when the traffic light turns yellow. Everybody here addresses me as “Sir.” The hotel bar closes at 10pm.
It really is a nice town.
But damn, I miss New Orleans.
8 comments:
We miss you too, sir.
I hate it when hotel bars close early!
I just read "102 Hours"...interesting book. I had no idea the extent of the hostility between the police and fire depts. That the police helicopter flying over the WTC couldn't communicate with the firemen was heartbreaking.
If you hadn't blogged about the book, I never would have heard about it! Thanks!
Susan
Say hello to Jeff Sadow for me.
I didn't see the post about "102 hours." I'll have to look it up. When I was googling for information about police and fire pay I was flabbergasted at how successfully their played against each other in city after city when it comes to pay issues. Kept apart so they be fleeced separately or something. I suppose that there will always be unavoidable turf issues as well.
The book is "102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers" by Kevin Flynn and Jim Dwyer. Yes, sad to say we expect Police and Fire Fighters to risk their lives for us, but we pay them like school teachers.
Peace,
Tim
Marian Fontana wrote a book about being one of the ones left behind - her husband was a firefighter who had just come off duty when it happened, and he immediately jumped back on the truck and headed into Manhattan from Brooklyn. He never came back. Turns out the firefighters are worth more to their families dead than alive, monetarily speaking...which is just awful. Fontana would give all that back just to have her husband home again.
The communications between police and fire departments are notoriously bad all over this country, not just in NYC. Why can't Homeland Security focus on things as basic as this? It will be needed in most any emergency...
Okay, rant over.
"Yes, sad to say we expect Police and Fire Fighters to risk their lives for us, but we pay them like school teachers." Zing! Well said, Tim.
Hotel bars closing at 10 ought to be agin' the law!
I've been getting spam from Shreveport since Mardi Gras.
The first one was enticing me to join them for Mardi Gras. I still have it somewhere.
Shreveport is a dump.
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