Sunday, February 26, 2006
Postal Worker in Bywater
On Saturday morning, Joseph Ruffino slowly drown down his old route on Marais Street. Mail is currently undeliverable there, but he returned to bywater while waiting to make a few deliveries--Ruffino is currently working as a sub--in the nearby Fauborug Maringy which was not as heavily damaged.
For Ruffino the worst thing about Katrina is that it split up New Orleans families.
"New Orleans is different than most places, most of the time families would move to another part of the area, you didn't have this dispersion across states," he said. Ruffino's family came to New Orleans in the 1920s from Italy and opened up a bakery in the French Quarter. He grew up in St. Bernard's Parish, a suburb of New Orleans among the most heavily hit during Katrina.
He currently drivesX hours from Carrier, MS to get to the city each day.
On the subject of Mardi Gras he is split. He said that the city's lack of personnel and the shortage of employees are it's own fault.
"The city brought this on itself as far as not everybody coming back," he said. "Over the past ten years its been so focused on tourism...the people have been forgotten about."
Though Ruffino thinks that if they can come back they shouldn't, nesscaresarily, he said he intends to.
"It's like a virus," he said, of New Orleans, "you can't get it out of your blood."
For Ruffino the worst thing about Katrina is that it split up New Orleans families.
"New Orleans is different than most places, most of the time families would move to another part of the area, you didn't have this dispersion across states," he said. Ruffino's family came to New Orleans in the 1920s from Italy and opened up a bakery in the French Quarter. He grew up in St. Bernard's Parish, a suburb of New Orleans among the most heavily hit during Katrina.
He currently drivesX hours from Carrier, MS to get to the city each day.
On the subject of Mardi Gras he is split. He said that the city's lack of personnel and the shortage of employees are it's own fault.
"The city brought this on itself as far as not everybody coming back," he said. "Over the past ten years its been so focused on tourism...the people have been forgotten about."
Though Ruffino thinks that if they can come back they shouldn't, nesscaresarily, he said he intends to.
"It's like a virus," he said, of New Orleans, "you can't get it out of your blood."
// posted by The Nortones @ 5:04 AM 
