Hurricanes Are Like Herpes

Not that I have any experience with the STD, but I am confident that I have a pretty decent understanding of the dangers of this rampant viral strain thanks to my decision to take Psychology 1520--Human Sexual Behavior at the University of New Orleans, coupled with those late night commercials for temporary cold sore relief.

Just as it is depicted by those happy couples in the herpes commercials, it always seems like the cold sores appear right before that big date or romantic vacation. In Gustav’s case, it seems kind of daunting that this system is taking aim on the gulf coast the same week that Katrina hit just three years ago.

I know we were lucky that three years have gone by with no major threats, but if you have been keeping up with the Corps of Engineers reports, the levees aren’t really 100% up to par as far as where they need to be to protect the city from catastrophic flooding the likes of what Katrina brought in, and aren’t scheduled to be complete for another three (plus) years. Talk about bad timing.

As I sit here in my beautiful downtown Chicago apartment, on the 3rd anniversary of the drowning of my beloved New Orleans, I find myself overwhelmed with guilt for not being there with my family and my friends amidst the chaos of the evacuation all because I wanted to experience what life was like outside of my hometown.