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Well, Lorin, I live in New Orleans, as well. I'm interested to know if you ever look into the kitchens of the many places that you apparently regularly dine in. Was Spanish the language of the kitchen in New Orleans before the storm? I'm pretty sure that it wasn't. I'm not saying that this is a bad change (we are, after all, a port city and a city made up largely, historically, of immigrants, at that), but I am asking you why do you think that situation is occurring? Could it be because the people who have performed these jobs for many years, completely underpaid in most cases, can't afford to live here? Perhaps it's because the places and neighborhoods where they used to live pretty much don't exist anymore? You should probably get out of The Isle of Denial more often than you apparently do. It's not pretty. We have no meaningful public transportation, expensive housing and utility costs that are outrageous by anyone's standards. Our hospital system is shot to hell, the cops are undermanned and untrusted, localized crime is out of hand, and the criminal justice system is a national disgrace.

Then again, the "waiters are making a killing." Every night? Most nights? A few nights? What waiters? Waiters at Drago's? Where might all of these rich waiters be? If Tommy is turning them away, perhaps he could direct them to just about anywhere else, as most people in all levels of service seem to be hurting badly for front of house staff and could use the help-especially if there is a killing to be made.

And as for a comparison between the Sonnier's and the Scotch House? Are you really making a comparison or just another of your overstated generalities designed to make some kind of point? The Sonnier's had, among other things, good health and the advantage of being relatively young, insurance, a nice place worth selling over by the Track (though flooded it was still useful real estate in what had been a great location before the levees broke), some money in the bank, and the ability buy a place (in what has become the most desirable and bizarrely insulated section of Uptown) to get things up and running by themselves. Sadly, in what is surely one of the most complicated situations that I have ever witnessed (and pretty much a by the book "Just what's wrong with this place" situation) they have not been able to do that and have probably lost their asses in the bargain. It's a shame because they ran a great place and they are supremely nice people, but it's what it is. Willie Mae had none of those things. None. Those people that helped her did so because they had good hearts-nothing more- as surely 90% of the people who worked there had never been to the place before and many, many of them had never even been to New Orleans-they just wanted to help out in a bad situation. And they did. They didn't expect anything and, in the end, they got alot more than they bargained for on those long weekends in that junky ass place in Treme. Why don't you get a list of them and see if they wouldn't do it again, there or somewhere else, in a heartbeat? Volunteerism is about doing work for others and feeling good about it. Not much more, I don't think.

How can you possibly say that "traditions aren't at risk?" Perhaps not the stuff in the unflooded and previous to the storm fairly affluent (though, clearly, this being New Orleans, mixed shoulder to shoulder with the not so affluent-the huddled wodies, if you will) areas along the River, but as for the REST OF THE CITY? Treme, Gentilly, Broadmoor, the Lower 9, the East, etc would seem to be pretty much in danger of being marginalized or drastically changed. And you know what? I'm one of those who is honest enough to say that some of it is probably for the better, but not all of it and I'm certainly not blind enough to say that there is no threat to these traditions. I can't believe any thinking person would believe otherwise.

New Orleans is, without a doubt, a culture that is all of it's own and completely unique-this is, at the same time, our greatest weakness and by far our greatest strength. We're who we are and we don't apologize to anyone for it. This fixing things will take awhile and it's not going to be fast. We'll be doing it, largely on our own without the help of, or inspite of, the government on every level and every step of the way. But we will do it. There's too much to lose here and many of us can't seem to fathom living anywhere else.

Thankfully there are many people around the country who kind of don't get us, and don't even pretend to, but in many ways they want part of what we have. They see something, though often they're not even sure what, that they don't have in Des Moines, or Chattanooga, or even New York-and it's not just "go cups (though this IS one of our most civilized features)." This is a place where people "work to live" not "live to work" and while most of us are doing alot more work than living right now, at least we (or at least most of us) know what we are missing.