Got this over IM... can't source it, but...
Let this sink in for a minute.....Hundreds and hundreds of small boats pulled by countless pickups and SUVs from across the South are headed for Houston. Almost all of them driven by men. They're using their own property, sacrificing their own time, spending their own money, and risking their own lives for one reason: to help total strangers in desperate need.
Most of them are by themselves. Most are dressed like the redneck duck hunters and bass fisherman they are. Many are veterans. Most are wearing well-used gimme-hats, t-shirts, and jeans; and there's a preponderance of camo. Most are probably gun owners, and most probably voted for Trump.
These are the people the Left loves to hate, the ones Maddow mocks. The ones Maher and Olbermann just *know* they're so much better than.
These are The Quiet Ones. They don't wear masks and tear down statues. They don't, as a rule, march and demonstrate. And most have probably never been in a Whole Foods.
But they'll spend the next several days wading in cold, dirty water; dodging gators and water moccasins and fire ants; eating whatever meager rations are available; and sleeping wherever they can in dirty, damp clothes. Their reward is the tears and the hugs and the smiles from the terrified people they help. They'll deliver one boatload, and then go back for more.
When disaster strikes, it's what men do. Real men. Heroic men. American men. And then they'll knock back a few shots, or a few beers with like-minded men they've never met before, and talk about fish, or ten-point bucks, or the benefits of hollow-point ammo, or their F-150.
And the next time they hear someone talk about "the patriarchy", or "male privilege", they'll snort, turn off the TV and go to bed.
In the meantime, they'll likely be up again before dawn. To do it again. Until the helpless are rescued. And the work's done.
They're unlikely to be reimbursed. There won't be medals. They won't care. They're heroes. And it's what they do.
Taken from a well spoken dude just like most of us.
There's such a difference here... between Harvey and Katrina... I know some of it is optics - I know the attitude described above was present all over Mississippi, and Louisiana and all over the South after Katrina. And that media focus was almost entirely on NO... But this stuff just makes me so proud of all y'all. Harvey hadn't even quit yet, and y'all were out there helping each other... Texans were already heading toward the damage before the rain even quit... And the South came arunnin... the Cajun Navy... and the lower midwest...
I know y'all are getting drug through a knothole backwards, I know it hurts. But there ain't nothin I have ever seen that shows such can-do spirit, such a strong willed, good attitude in the face of the worst sort of adversity... Such an inbuilt desire - a near instinct - to do right by your fellow man... There is not a better example of why you damn well better not mess with Texas.
The rescue folks just come a'runnin. and the logistics folks - food, housing, lodging for the rescue folks just step right on up... It just amazes me and gives me hope in the goodness of men toward each other. Thank you Texas, for showing folks how it's done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU_hznRUPqQ&feature=youtu.behttps://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=3K3A4eVEP6s
