K20: day 2 at Louis Armstrong Park

My second day helping out at the K20 event was busier. Back at the info tent, the rain had stopped and the crowds began to flow into the park. A different krewe of volunteers so I made my introductions again. (I flubbed names and still feel like an idiot.)

One talkative lady wore Tulane socks, Ms Roseanne, a history professor. We talked about the need for more research and work in environmentalism. I’m a transplant, she said, but she’s been here 30 years. (My 3 were waved off. Unremarkable.)

I handed out meal tickets with Roger, a calm soft-spoken young man, who along with the professor, talked of having older parents and how that informs your outlook on life.

We gave away t-shirts including to a group of 4 aunties who’d asked for them the day before.

And when the t-shirts and meal tickets ran out, we handed out bandannas. Ayu bakery cookies. Water bottles.

Some folks, including an older white man, came again and again, staying to chat. They didn’t want to be alone, I think. Some charged phones.

I saw Megan, director of OBONO, her children performing with Congo Kids. They’d been at the levee Friday too. I’m glad I’ve been so busy, she confided. No time to break down.

Timothy came by, the lovely soul from Friday. He’d taken a 4-hour nap, exhausted from Friday. He’d been at the mayor’s event at Gallier Hall, had met General Honore. When I asked how it was, he said, I listened to what he had to say. When you’re in the presence of so much wisdom, that is what you do.

A vision in crisp white, Miss Brenda (I think, I know her from museum shows) walked through, having also just left the mayor’s event. She talked about caring for 300 S&WB workers through the storm and aftermath.

Then a distraught woman: she’d set her phone down on the sanitation station and when she emerged from the port-a-potty, it was gone. We called, texted, walked around: no phone. :(

A man asked for a meal ticket and when Roger explained we were out, to try again tomorrow, the man said angrily, sounds just like Katrina. You brought me right back to Katrina, y’all. He stomped off. Roger said it didn’t bother him but I think it did. People can be so nasty about free things.

As the afternoon wound down, I ate curried vegetables and rice, watched Big Chief Brian & Nouveau Bounce and his performers (shake that booty like a tambourine) on Congo Square, listened to Roger’s raptures about Disney World, the amenities as you wait in line, his joy in the experience.

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We missed Al Gore, my neighbor texted me. Apparently he’d been at the levee and other events. I’d wanted to go over to where the crowds were Friday but she wanted to go. Also, we had our experiences. We held space for the day.

We didn’t miss anything, I don’t think.