makin' desense outta deworld
I know that 49 1/2 states outta the country aren't necessarily affected by the goings ons around here. And it seems as the air gets clearer over here, the attention gets thinner as well. I know that I had tears streaming down my face as I listened to the helplessness in announcers' voices as they told of the latest destruction (think of the significance and impact of the words "Cuyamaca is gone." GONE. As if it never existed. But worse, because it's now a black, charred existence. It's devastating, and I'm not even connected to it intrinsically). Yesterday we had to return to work and return to placating the needy whines of people missing a coupon for free bag of food. The perspective of the situation was hard to swallow from those of us here, and when we had to answer messages left by people literally screaming at us "where the f*@$ are you?! This corporation doesn't care, the customer means nothing, you guys are a bunch of (insert favorite descriptive expletive here) and I'm now going to be a customer of (insert favorite competitive pet store here)!!" it was difficult not to yell back. Most people we called back were pretty nice about it; I had a few people riddled with guilt about the nasty message they left before they realized why we weren't there to kiss their feet. And it was nice to have that outlet of sympathy and people asking questions about it.

But today... today is different. Today people don't give a flying bag of food what's going on in the world around me, only what's going on in the world around them. It's as if they've become desensitized to the devastation. And while I'm in no better of a place in processing everything that's going on, the sympathy is short in coming. There are other things going on, I understand this. But a little patience is all I'm asking... otherwise "NO FOOD FOR YOU!" ((and for you compassionate East Coasters (and clueless locals), here's a start)):

In response to the devastation wrought by the fires that continue to rage through Southern California, PETCO stores and PETCO.com have begun to collect donations to benefit the many shelters working to assist the pets and families affected by this disaster. Please help us help the animals of San Diego County by making a generous donation online (http://www.petco.com) or in your local PETCO store.