Katrina, Rita and Me… Part 2

2005 – Broussard, LA – Hurricane Katrina

I heard a knock at the door, but I decided not to answer. I had just arrived back at our duplex after a long morning and all I wanted was to catch a few z’s. By this time I was beginning to hate living so close to the church, but every dark cloud has a silver lining and mine was 30 minute power naps at lunch. As I rested my head back on the pillow I heard the front door open and a female voice in my entry way. Deciding to find out why someone would enter my home uninvited I emerged from my room to see her…the pastors wife from the dinner a few weeks prior. I groaned silently…she had only been in Broussard for a short time and yet she was already causing quite an uproar with her snide remarks and demeaning attitude. She looked at me and asked why I was home in a tone that was clearly meant as a rebuke. She then proceeded to brush past me and begin looking around my house. Mind you, she was not invited inside and she did not ask permission to snoop through my things. She opened cabinet doors and went into my bedroom. All the while I stood in the hallway in complete shock. I had never in my life seen such a display and I was literally left speechless at her actions.

When she walked back towards me she waived her arm as to motion at my modest home in disdain. She then said ” I suppose this will do”. When I asked what in the world she was referring to, she informed me that her parents were in need of a place to reside for a couple of weeks while their home was being repaired from hurricane damage. Her father’s health was failing and he was in need of a comfortable place to stay. She heard from her sister in law (who had also stayed with us after the hurricane) that we were very hospitable and hardly ever home. With that in mind, she came over to check out our home for herself. Once it met her approval she then informed me that we would have new guests arriving the next day. She also mentioned that it would be so kind of us to arrange the furniture in a way that could best accommodate her father and then she was out the door… dialing their number as she left.

I stood in the middle of my living room in complete shock. I could not believe how I had just been treated. What made me even more upset was the fact that I allowed it to happen. I knew better than to allow myself to be walked all over, but I also knew that if I stood up to her, I would most likely never hear the end of it. She and her husband were a very powerful couple in our group of churches and those people…the ones on the top of the totem pole…well you just didn’t say no to them without feeling the repercussions.