after we arrived back at our house, our friends Heather and Mark showed up, along with their son. They had brought granola bars, dried mangoes, and bottles of water with them, knowing that we probably weren't even thinking of food and drink. They were right.
Heather and I sat out on the front steps, her providing an ear, while I alternated between tearing ranting and stunned silence. Heather's son is autistic, so she had a pretty good idea of what we were going through at this point. At some point, the eerie silence had erupted into cacophony, with chain saws all around, shouting, and a swarm of helicopters in the sky. It was all a LOT to deal with - it would have been a lot for anyone to deal with, really... but several trips through the war zone had already left me extremely overstimulated. Between that, all of the "change" all around us, the noise... it was a perfect storm brewing, ripe for the mother of all Aspergers meltdowns. She was so patient, kind, and understanding... and it really helped me keep things in check.
Every once in a while, we were interrupted by various men in suits... looking to sell us remodeling services. The number of times this happened that first afternoon was actually stunning. With all of the reports of impassable roads, police roadblocks set up - truly, we weren't even sure that Heather and Mark would be able to make it through the roadblocks, even with very specific people to come help - we were blown away that so many salespeople were streaming through.
After the first few instances, my Irish Canadian temper started taking over. We hadn't even been given a chance to process what happened, what was still happening, and what we needed to do - and here were these smarmy salespeople, infringing on our space. It just didn't sit well with me.
After I'd truly had enough with "The Vultures" - as we'd come to term them - I started taking a much more direct approach. When one salesperson started up my walk ...
Him: "Good afternoon! Are you the homeowner?"
Me: "If you're here to sell me something, I will punch you right in the face."
Him: "Uh... never mind, good bye!"
As soon as the salesman left, Mark turned to me and said "That is the LEAST Minnesotan thing I've ever seen in my life!". I had to laugh.
With Mark's help, we arranged to hire someone to put up some secure tarp on our wide open roof. I packed a suitcase - mostly clothes and alcohol! - to get us through a few days, and we finally decided to call it a night. With no electricity, our ability to do much of anything was becoming severely limited by the setting of the sun.
As we walked towards the car, we saw a sight we just weren't prepared for. A vehicle pulled up into a tight intersection, and a bunch of people got out, carrying massive amounts of lawn signs under their arms. It was like... a clown car. These people proceeded to start putting up their remodeling business signs on any little bit of available land, just littering the place.
Let me try and explain the scene a bit better.
The roads were such that - for the streets you could actually get down at all - the pathways for vehicles were very narrow. There were trees and random debris everywhere. Even the main cross streets were like this, most of them impassable... and this company had just pulled up and parked, without any consideration for anyone that may be coming through with a more honorable, entitled, or urgent purpose. The size of even one car was *significant*, given the obstruction in the roads.
So then, rather than getting out en masse and offering to help people, these vultures were swarming the area with dollar signs in their eyes. Rather than pick up debris, or even ask home owners if they'd like a sign in whatever tiny piece of their yard that may have been visible under all of that rubble, they just spread those signs like they were marking their territory. Such disregard for the devastation around them. We saw RED.
As we approached our car, my husband kicked a sign, and just sent it flying. As he later explained:
"I tried to kick very hard- to really make a point. I am no jock, so I really gave it all I had, in an attempt to send it flying. The shape of the sign meant that it was quite stable, like a paper airplane. Even my non-athletic kick really sent it flying away. My foot was left aching, as the bottom of the sign where I kicked was rather thin Refusing to acknowledge the pain, I walked on as if it was no problem at all"
Again, I just can't even begin to describe how pissed off we were, that these people were doing this just hours after the tornado. Who thinks like that? Who looks at this sort of disaster on TV, and gets all excited about the profits they can make? Who rounds up as many people as they can, on a Sunday afternoon, to just litter the neighborhood with advertising?
Similarly, I can't even express how shocked we were when one of the company reps ran up to my husband and told him off for kicking the sign. I just can't even imagine how bereft of basic humanity a person would have to be to not only engage in that profiteering behavior in the first place, but to also have the lack of integrity to go up to a victim of the disaster and tell them off like that?
I lost it.
As this pathetic creature wagged his finger at my husband, I screeched at him. I'm sure that the entire neighborhood heard me shriek "We just lost our HOUSE, you vultures!" at him - perhaps not my proudest moment, but... really.
Alpha Exteriors ... you should be ashamed of yourselves. You are the lowest form of humanity.
If your business is that desperate for income that you would conduct yourself in such a skeezy, disgusting manner as to descend upon the area THAT quickly, with that many people... you could have done it a LOT more honorably. Why not dress all of those people in company branded t shirts and send them in to help clear debris? I'm sure that more than a few people would have appreciated it, and asked for business cards.
That is how decent people would do it, anyway. Instead, you're forever immortalized in our photos, arm loads of signs in tow... a loathsome pack of weasels, completely lacking souls.
Leaving for tonight. If some salesperson gets the tar beaten out of them tomorrow, and a 'violent' immigrant deported as a result, well... - Twitter Mon May 23 01:59:54 UTC 2011
Just a few hours after the tornado
Thoroughly exhausted, we headed towards Ray's house. It's only about 25 minutes away - under normal circumstances - but between the debris, randomly parked cars, other hazards, and the degree to which we were worn out... it felt like forever. We realized that - although it was getting quite late - we hadn't really eaten since right before the tornado. While the dried mango and other goodies were much appreciated, we just hadn't been in the mood to eat while Heather and Mark were there, and we were now regretting that.
Additionally, we realized that I'd managed to forget to pack our toothbrushes and toothpaste. Yes, I packed the rum, and forgot toothbrushes. Awesome.
After a quick stop at a pharmacy for the toiletries, we decided to pick up something to eat at White Castle. I tell ya... "Harold and Kumar"'s journey to White Castle had *nothing* on us that night. I can only imagine how we looked to the other people there. Dirty, disheveled, tear streaked, exhausted.
As we waited for our food, we called Stephan, the owner of Dakota Painting and Drywall. He was the small business owner we'd dealt with for our initial wall fixes and painting when we bought the house. As he'd been the one to apply the ceiling finish, we wanted to hire him again, for as seamless of a repair as possible.
When we were done telling him what happened, I felt so much better. He was such a calming presence, very sweet and kind. After our conversation was the first time I started to feel like "We can handle this!", and that everything would be ok.
Just talked to the awesome dry waller that did our initial reno, he'll take care of us, as soon as the insurance company bothers to call.- Twitter, Mon May 23 03:08:42 UTC 2011
... And with that taken care of, I'll be free to unleash all KINDS of crazy on the profiteering vultures tomorrow.- Twitter, Mon May 23 03:10:20 UTC 2011
We ate our meal and headed back to my