Christien Louviere

I submitted this to the AJC editor today.  I’ll let you know if it gets picked up.

I have lived here for exactly a month now. The first visit I had to Atlanta was in 1996
for the Olympics. My dad, younger
brother and I spent a week here traveling between the stadium, Athens and Stone
Mountain. I remember telling my father
that I wanted to live here one day. At
the time, it was really because I was (still am) a huge Braves fan. Now a working professional, my actions have
culminated with me being an official Georgia resident as of yesterday. I guess I am an outsider to New Orleans now.

In the months after the hurricane, while living in New
Orleans, I called national clients daily. I had to make a conscious effort to say little about the hurricane when
they would ask. It became an emotional
trigger. The same way I make a point
not to bring up religion or politics with customers. I was not able to relate in words what happened and what
day-to-day life was like. It became the
hardest part of my job because I wanted people to be able to relate to what was
truly happening down there. The
national and cable news was (and still is) so cruelly inaccurate. Before the hurricane, I took what they said
with a grain of salt. Now, I rarely
believe anything they say.

Even though my move was in the works before Katrina, it was
so hard leaving my family in New Orleans under the circumstances; but it was
the best thing for them and me. It is
the most bittersweet action I have ever undertaken in my life. I figured the hardest was behind me.  I knew that by simply not having a daily
reminder of this disaster was loads of stress out of my life. Apparently, I was wrong.

The hardest part, since being here, has been learning to
bite my tongue when people find out from where I come. So much so, that I have considered telling
people I am from San Diego, Austin or anywhere that is not on the Gulf
Coast. Thus far, I have received two
reactions. One, they want to delve deep
into the details, which is hard for me because no matter how much I explain, I
am still left with the emptiness of still leaving them with a mysterious look
on their face. I appreciate that they
want to understand. The second is
people trying to convince me that giving money to New Orleans is a complete
waste of resources. This statement
completely infuriates me because it is easy to be an ‘armchair
quarterback.’ I have a feeling that if
I took this person’s home, destroyed it and told them they had to start over at
any age they would not be so aloof On
the phone, I can hang up with these people. In person, I become engaged. Being in sales, I have developed a thick skin. The topic of post-Katrina New Orleans is something I have to
think hard about before making any statements.

I am looking forward to becoming an active and involved
citizen of Atlanta, but New Orleans will always be my heart. Having said that, I know that as each day
passes I become further removed from the daily issues facing New Orleans. Each day, I become more of an outsider. I hope I do not lose sight of what my family
and I went through as well as what they and others are still going through
there. I hope that I retain the
compassion and patience for my fellow countrymen under harsh circumstances. Now on the outside looking in, I trust that
I will not ever see this situation from the perspective Gods looking down from
afar on a chess game.