Yesterday I was in line at the Wal-Mart on Tchoupitoulas behind a mother and her two daughters who had evacuated to New Orleans from Texas in order to get out of the way of Hurricane Ike. They were buying what looked to be a week's worth of supplies in case they were stuck in a New Orleans hotel for that long. I have no knowledge of any "tiered" reentry plan for Houston so there's hope that these ladies will be going home sooner than later.
The Texans were in high spirits about the whole business... which is always encouraging to see from people dealing with the stress and uncertainty of hurricane evacuation. They discussed their situation with the cashier who was sympathetic and hospitable as you would expect most New Orleanians to be with anyone unfortunate enough to share our accustomed experience of running from storms.
Most touching was the glow of civic pride emanating from the cashier as she helpfully (and quite earnestly) suggested to the evacuees that upon returning to their hotel they ask about the "Mayor Ray Nagin Special Rate. It's a special rate for you all. I saw it on the news."
The Texans were grateful for this advice. The cashier, I'm sure, was only too glad to have been helpful to these folks in their time of need. I hope it works out for this family and I hope they come away with pleasant memories of how they were treated while they were here. But the set-up I witnessed at the Wal-Mart wasn't a good sign. If those ladies did go back and ask about the special rate, they likely just made another unnecessary headache for themselves. And the Mayor just managed to misdirect the well-meaning good wishes of an unwitting citizen toward the task of furthering the buffoonery.
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