There was an abundance of speculations about Hurricane Gustav even days before it hit land. With family and friends in Southern Louisiana, I was worried about where they would evacuate and how long they would be there. I kept thinking about these people and the effects Starkville would receive from Gustav and those that fled “him.”
So while sitting in Starkville Café Tuesday afternoon, I overheard a conversation from three young men sitting in the booth behind me, and it occurred to me that they were here for that reason.
The three guys had evacuated from Baton Rouge, La., and came to Starkville because a cousin of one of the Louisianans offered his house for the time being. Petey Boudreaux, Danny LeBlanc and Bobby Bellefontaine knew as of then they had no place to go home to that wasn’t flooded with a few feet of water.
I decided to sit down and talk to the guys because I knew they aren’t familiar with the people of the area. Boudreaux said, “This is my first trip to Mississippi, and I have to admit y’all have the right idea when you say Mississippi is like coming home.”
Danny added that the mosquitoes weren’t as evil here either.
This might seem like pointless conversation for readers to know, but it’s comments like these that remind me of how hospitable Mississippi can be during times of grief for out-of-state people especially when it comes to the town of Starkville. That is, until Bellefontaine admitted to me that he got into a fight with someone on Monday night by “head-butting” him because the Starkville resident told him to “get his Cajun refugee ass out of Mississippi,” I believed that for the most part nobody had a problem with fellow Mississippians and Louisianans finding shelter in Starkville.
I got a rude awakening when I told a few people that I had a conversation with and bought lunch for these boys because I knew they had trouble to go home to when they left Mississippi.
People left and right were complaining about too many people being in Starkville and even their hometowns such as Meridian, Jackson and Vicksburg. I might sound crazy, but it seems to me that people have a problem with those who evacuated coming into their towns and not leaving the minute the hurricane passed. Katrina wasn’t that long ago, and those who are complaining probably had family on the coast of Mississippi and Louisiana that needed a place to stay during the demolishing of Gulf-side cities.
Because this is only the beginning of hurricanes that could possibly hit the Gulf Coast, I hope that people remember that the “hospitality state” has an image to maintain, and the evacuees not only need somewhere to go but they also need fellow Southerners to remind them that people will be there to help them when needed.
While Petey Boudreaux’s fan boat, Danny LeBlanc’s family crawfish and shrimp
business and Bobby Bellefontaine’s pet alligator Chacheaux may not seem important to most readers who don’t share similar interests, it can transfer into something of importance to anyone. Everyone from the Mississippi Gulf Coast remembers and some are still suffering from the effects of Katrina and are glad, as I am, that Gustav didn’t allow history to repeat itself. These residents understand what it’s like to lose something that has sentimental value as well as monetary value.
I know the people who disrespect evacuees in town are slim to none, but if there are a few bad apples here that can make a few Louisiana boys feel like they aren’t welcome, it seems like somewhere along the way we became divided. This could discourage the way people view our state.
I hope people remember that there will be many more hurricanes that could damage our lives and the lives of those that are in neighboring states.
Bailey Singletary is a senior majoring in communication. She can be contacted at [email protected].