This article was in the Lafourche (pronounced lafoosh) Gazette by a lady named Laurie Laine Guidry after returning from evacuating from Gustav. It shows you the difference between the people in New Orleans after Katrina and true Cajuns. Enjoy.
The Exposure of Cajun Looters
Laurie Laine Guidry
Maybe the reason nationally-broadcasted news stations don't flock to catch a glimpse of Cajun looters is out of fear of being bitten by pet alligators that run rampant through our backyards.
Maybe the reason Anderson Cooper and his broadcast buddies didn't stake out southern Lafourche to catch a glimpse of firsthand Cajun looting is because we back-wood folks, starting at the age of four, can recite "the right to bear arms" ammendment and no trespassing by-laws in our sleep, in French.
Perhaps the most logical reason that Cajuns looters aren't exposed worldwide is because, well, we just aren't as glamorous as those Reebok stealin' city slickers.
"A lootin' Cajun? There's no such thing", you might be thinking. Well folks, there are plenty of them. You probably know a few and may even be one of them yourself.
Did you return home from the storm and notice that things were missing from your yard? Did you notice that your gas tanks had a little less gas in them from the time you waited three hours in line to fill up prior to evacuating? Did you gasp at the sight of you door slightly nudged open? Did you have to argue with people who were taking boxes of your belongings out of your inlaw's houses?
I did, most my friends did and I'd venture to say half of the bayou experienced similar acts of Cajun connivery.
Upon returning home from evacuation, my family found our door wedged open by none other than an alleged bandit. Somehow a Cajun looter in my neighborhood got into my house, drug extension chords throughout our home, moved refrigerators and freezers from their designated spots and plugged them into his own generator so our precious seafood wouldn't defrost and leave our home smelling worse than a shrimp shed in the middle of August. The nerve! He did all that and didn't even grab a cold beer.
A friend of mine who had moved into her mother's house to indulge in some much needed, generator-powered air conditioning, was finally rewarded when Alabama turned on the electricity to her own home. What she wasn't expecting for was a Cajun looter to drop by, grab her family's goods from her mom's house and take them...all the way back to her house to help lighten her load.
Another Cajun, apparently up to no good, stayed home to weather the storm and entered not only one, but three evacuated homes...when he realized their automatic generators hadn't kicked on. This sneaky, sneaky looter drove around hours prior to the storm "casing" his friends' joints and went in without their knowledge. Once inside the abandoned homes, he replaced a run down battery on one generator, opened the gasline on another and switched some wires around on the third so all three of the homeowners were able to return home to a cool, smell-free home.
All along the bayou, Cajun looters were seen days after the storm, trepassing into neighbors' yards to steal broken branches and storm-worn shingles that not-so-elegantly decorated our yards. Some of these Cajun looters even wielded weapons such as chain saws and axes as the wreaked havoc on their friends' and neighbors' trees.
Arguments broke out over who would be responsible for cooking, each of the looters insisting on supplying supper and cold refreshments for those who helped in the scandalous deeds.
So you're probably thinking back now to all the looting you saw happening before your very own eyes. You may even be realizing that you too, are a Cajun looter. Well, if you are, pat yourself on the back.
Cajun looters don't need CNN, NBC or any of those other fancy-pants networks to broadcast these events. Cajun looters do what they've got to do no matter who's watching and who's not.
So keep your eyes peeled for those trespassing Cajun looters and if you catch one in the act, say thanks and offer him or her a cold beverage because all that hard work is in definite need of a reward.
