Broken Dreams | TotalPicture Radio - The Voice of Career Leadership Development

Broken Dreams

Sunday, 09 October 2005

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Just flew into Atlanta from Baton Rouge. For the past week, we have been filming for Coca-Cola - documenting the aftermath of Katrina. A surreal experience. The good news: there are lots of jobs. Of course, everyone has seen the bad news. Unless your home is at least partially habitable, there is no place to live. It's not unusual to hear stories...

New Orleans

...of 20 people (along with their pets) cramming into a small two bedroom house or apartment. People are commuting to New Orleans from Baton Rouge - whose population has doubled. (Baton Rouges is sixty miles from New Orleans). The only reason we had a hotel room in New Orleans - one hotel room - the local Coke bottler had reserved a block of rooms before the hurricane had struck - and the room we were sharing was temporarily unoccupied.

Gulfport, Mississippi

Two New Orleans fast food companies are offering $6,000 signing bonuses. The manager of one Bourbon Street restaurant lucky enough to have re-opened (limited menu) told us waiters were making $3,000 a day in tips. We heard of a doctor making $1,000 a day hauling drywall out of destroyed buildings - he can't practice medicine since his clinic was destroyed. Anyone can make $500 a day or more hauling debris out of completely destroyed homes and office buildings. Every business that has been able to re-open has "help wanted" signs posted.

Doug Price, the Cold Drink Sales Manager for Coast Coca-Coca Cola Bottling Company, and life-long resident of Gulfport, was driving me around the beach area - the title of this article came from a plywood sign on Beach Boulevard in Gulfport - other signs: "alive" - "we're okay" - addresses spray-painted on plywood sitting on land with nothing on it - everything gone. At one point, Doug was unsure where we were - there's very little left to provide visual orientation.

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