impatiently waiting- joseph lanser

So I know its only July, but my experience trying to get a hold of a camera in New Orleans has been reminiscent of Advent, the anticipatory four weeks prior to the celebration of Christmas. Believing (erroneously we would soon learn) that the acquisition of a video camera from Duke/DukeEngage/anyone who would hear my plea would be easy, Sam and I ambitiously wrote a script for and made arrangements to have our jingle about preparing an evacuation kit be performed by third to fifth grade students at the local elementary school. I think we were both impressed by the progress (at least I was). The intensity of Black Friday had nothing on us. We were rhyming machines. Now all we needed was a camera…

Well, when word, in the form of an email, arrived from Joy that the prospect of getting a camera was about as bleak as scoring a Tickle Me Elmo doll circa Winter 1997, I was a bit surprised but certainly not going to give up hope. I had Joy and Dr. Schaad on my side (Mary and Joseph? let’s see how far I can take this…). Alright so this brings us to the second week of Advent/NOLA, which in my mind mine as well be synonymous because they evoke the same feels of joy (hehe Joy…) in me, and putting off the filming of the video another week wouldn’t be the end of the world because there were other projects on the works. By the end of the week, we had a few leads but the chance of getting a video camera was grim. I was growing impatient but had no choice but to resort to Plan B (an actual plan, not the contraceptive). We made arrangements with the media specialist at the government office to film our video and soon afterwards received an email from Joy requesting that we submit a formal camera proposal (Christmas list?) to Eric Mlyn (Santa Claus?), director almighty of DukeEngage. Although the camera would not arrive in time for the filming, we would at least have one at our disposal for future projects (cue sigh of relief). The pink candle was burning brightly in my mind. Christmas was going to be awesome!

Looks like I’ve been a bad boy this year because the request was outright denied. My impatience, which, of late, had turned into anger, was now replaced by painful indifference. Despite our best efforts, we had nothing to show for them, having exhausted every contact and outlet. The filming went relatively smoothly given that we were working with a cameraman essentially oblivious to our vision of how the video was to be filmed. Much to our surprise, we received a phone call from Dr. Schaad soon after the filming telling us that he had acquired a video camera for our use, which we finally received last week.

At a very insignificant level, the frustration I experienced trying to get a camera had similar elements to the frustrations that residents of New Orleans and surrounding parishes have experienced and are still experiencing post-Katrina. Receiving assistance from the government, what they thought was a given, especially after a disaster of this magnitude, has proven to be immensely more convoluted than initially expected. Promises unfulfilled, the public’s dissatisfaction with the government’s response grows daily. Organizations like FEMA are unnecessarily complicating an effort for which it is very easy to feel detached. Their actions thus far are indicative of a gross indifference toward the plight in which residents have been stuck for almost two years now. The last thing New Orleans needs right now is a detached agency in charge of distributing emergency funds to the affected residents. Sadly, I don’t think there is much the public can do to rectify the situation. Only so much can be accomplished with the resources at their disposable. They can fight. They can complain. They can recount their sad tales. They can try to move on with their lives, but without government assistance it’s all in vain. This city needs a Santa Claus-and soon.