A Breath of Optimism for a Change

Too lazy to deal with HTML, I offer this Slate piece, by Katrina refugee Blake Bailey:

http://www.slate.com/id/2126756/?nav=tap3

This is what I wanted you all to read:

"One is succored by the kindness of strangers. When I first arrived in Norman, I took my car to a repair shop to have the AC fixed; after considering the matter for two or three hours, the manager told me that the AC was broken in every conceivable way that AC can break and that to repair it would cost roughly the blue-book value of my car (a 1998 Suzuki Esteem). I decided to cut my losses. The woman who wrote up the invoice for all that expensive labor—a dead ringer for the woman in American Gothic—noticed my Louisiana license plate and wondered if I was from New Orleans. I said I was and added something to the effect that I had miles to go before I sleep, albeit in a very warm car, ha ha. The woman stopped writing and gave me a rock-faced look—deploring my stupid joke, I thought, but not at all: "No charge," she said, and firmly shook her head when I fumbled for my wallet. The next day I got a haircut and the same thing happened. It's almost worth losing your house to be reminded, again and again, that people are really nice when given half a chance."