STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Jeez, is that true? Do you think they're actual evacuees or profiteers?

edit: never mind my silly poll (which I deleted)

-- Edited by dc at 22:50, 2005-09-12

Here's an article abt the debit cards...

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050909/ap_on_re_us/katrina_debit_cards_hk4_2

It was supposed to be a innovative way of distributing aid but apparently not too well planned. They decided to discontinue the plan as of Sept 9...

Some sneaky fingers must have gotten a hold of the cards for their own shopping purposes

-- Edited by kahluamilk at 22:46, 2005-09-12

eta for clarity

for the most part it doesn't bother me that evacuees are using their debit cards for lv purses or other "ridiculous" items. (obvs i'm bothered by this if the cards are stolen,etc.)  the way i see it, if you've lost everything $2K is not really going to do much in the way of replacing it, or even giving you a good base for starting your life over. i could be wrong, but i'd be surprised if $2K were enough to cover the costs of getting an apt. (1st month, last month, and security) let alone moving costs, furnishing the apt. etc. and that's the maximum amount you'd get according to the article. not that an lv is going to make things better, but i understand the feeling associated with getting something you've always wanted even if it's a frivolous item. so if an lv brings a bit of joy into someone's life, then you know whatever. maybe that's a naive line of thinking...

also for what it's worth i'd take the article with a grain of salt. i saw it yesterday morning (gawker linked to it) but decided not to post it mainly b/c the article is from the ny new's daily dish -- a gossip column.

-- Edited by honey at 10:11, 2005-09-13

-- Edited by honey at 11:17, 2005-09-13

It's possible that the cards could have been stolen or perhaps been obtained by people who don't really need them but I also don't doubt the fact that there are some evacuees who are using the cards for non-essentials. I've known people who have done similar seemingly irresponsible things, who spent money on jewelry when they had collection agencies calling them at work all day long and were late on their children's tuition payment, who went out drinking when they barely had enough money to pay rent.
I think it was dc who made the point earlier that the hurricane didn't turn people into saints. If the goverment really wanted people to only use these cards for essentials they should have put more restrictions on them.

The bad thing about this is that since a lot of the evacuees were supposedly already on public assistance I think it could be held up by those who are opposed to things like the welfare as an example of how the system makes people lazy, irresponsible, etc. because they have become used to the fact that the government (or someone) will always take care of them to a certain extent.

-- Edited by cc at 12:10, 2005-09-13

honey wrote:

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eta for clarity for the most part it doesn't bother me that evacuees are using their debit cards for lv purses or other "ridiculous" items. (obvs i'm bothered by this if the cards are stolen,etc.)  the way i see it, if you've lost everything $2K is not really going to do much in the way of replacing it, or even giving you a good base for starting your life over. i could be wrong, but i'd be surprised if $2K were enough to cover the costs of getting an apt. (1st month, last month, and security) let alone moving costs, furnishing the apt. etc. and that's the maximum amount you'd get according to the article. not that an lv is going to make things better, but i understand the feeling associated with getting something you've always wanted even if it's a frivolous item. so if an lv brings a bit of joy into someone's life, then you know whatever. maybe that's a naive line of thinking... also for what it's worth i'd take the article with a grain of salt. i saw it yesterday morning (gawker linked to it) but decided not to post it mainly b/c the article is from the ny new's daily dish -- a gossip column.-- Edited by honey at 10:11, 2005-09-13 -- Edited by honey at 11:17, 2005-09-13

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I agree that it doesn't bother me either. I highly doubt that people who are starving with no place to live are at the lv store buying bags.  If there are some, these people may have money that they can get to in bank accounts and aren't really suffering like the people we see on tv.  I dont have a problem with them going to buy something for themselves if they want, especially if they lost their house and all their belongings and have to start all over.  They also reported that the cards are no longer being distributed because it was all disorganized(i'm shocked) which lead to alot of theft. 

To everyone who said they would never donate again, just think of all the people who may have benefited from your donation.  You know your intentions when you sent that money so be proud of what you did and dont let a few bad people(if this is all true) make the good ones suffer.

It's not just LV bags - We had a group of 150 victims staying at an old air force base about 3 blocks from my home.  After being given their $2,000 debit cards, a large group of them headed to the local bar and spent the entirety of their 'relief' money on alcohol.  They then started a bar fight, were thrown out, and returned to the base to continue their fighting.  The police had to be called, and the Red Cross has since withdrawn all services from the base.