[LikeLight]

These refugees (and yes, they fit the dictionary definition of refugees - but if they prefer, we can call them "displaced persons") from New Orleans are going to be the Okies of this generation, the wanderers from the Dustbowl - every one of our states, many of our towns will eventually be touched by them as they are gradually dispersed and re-absorbed into society - at first they will place an extra demand on our social/medical services, but after a while most of them will be productive citizens. But there will be some "growing pains" and we all need to prepare for that with some measure of patience and compassion.

[WVNan]

You know, that is exactly what I've been thinking. I was a child during the Depression and can remember the "hobos" and wanderers who would come past our little shack begging for bread and water.

[Coldwater Creek]

You know! I had not thought of these people alike to the depression era "Okies", but you are exactly right. At that point in time they did not have the Fed's as a safety net.

In the early forties, my father was a farmer, the war was on and we were litterly starving to death. He had to go elsewhere to find a way to support us.