I spent some time yesterday, down at the convention center in Austin, where thousands of former New Orleans residents are comfortably crammed together. Considering the plight of the people gathered, it was a rather peaceful and calm place. A far cry from the 'other' convention center where unthinkable horrors abounded. Not that Austin's gun totin, first amendment quotin, Southern fried Bapticostal population is so pure, mind you. On the contrary, chaplain Shaw mentioned to a gathered group of us that they had to beef up security because a few folks posing as Christian Pastors came to 'pray' with the refugees and initially, the authorities obliged. However when their heads were bowed and their eyes were closed, they were stealing from the people. As if they haven't already lost enough. There were parents there who lost children and children there who lost parents. Down one hall an impromptu AA meeting was taking place as people struggled for some sense of normalcy and connection. The few folks I met, though, had that hopeful, excited, 'what next' look to them. As if to say, things can only get better from here. I have the feeling that the terms that we throw around so freely like 'awful' and 'horrible' in regards to our own petty issues, are forever redefined for this crowd who lost everything to water and then, for lack of water, so many perished. The next time I think of traffic as 'awful' or suffer from a case of 'I Can't Stand It-itis', I'll remember what awful truly is and thank God that I still have the ability to join in the slow moving amoeba of Austin commuters who still have jobs and lives that make a shred of sense and have a sliver of order. The next time I consider the behavior of my children 'horrible' I'll thank God that I still have children whose behavior I have the ability to consider at all. The next time I think that I can't stand it, I'll rise to my feet and prove myself wrong.