– This post originally appeared on the Canadian Red Cross’ website. Authored by Derrick Harvey, Canadian Red Cross Volunteer responding to Hurricane Ike.
- Assignment: Ike response, Shelter Management, Houston, Texas, USA
- Volunteer: Derrick Harvey
- Hometown: Comox, British Columbia, Canada
Tragedies sometimes evoke humor that allows people to deal with stress and to cope with the emotional pressure that was and is Hurricane Ike. There are some things that we have learned from this event and laughed about. Let me share them with you.
- Coffee and frozen pizzas can be made on a BBQ
- He who has the biggest generator wins
- TV is an addiction and withdrawal is painful
- There are a lot more stars in the sky than most people realize
- People will line up for anything… even if they do not know what the lineup is for
- Crickets will increase their volume to beat down even 30 generators
- Children can survive more than 4 days without a video controller in their hands
- No matter how many times you flick the switch… without electricity, the lights will not come on
- A 3 kg bag of ice will keep a 6 kg turkey frozen for 8 hours
- When required, a Lincoln Continental will float. It won’t steer, but it will float
- People can walk a lot further than they think they can
- When the phone lines are down, a cell phone will work for about 5 hours
So there is a way to relieve some of the tension and stress generated by this Hurricane. It is not out of line to find groups of Red Cross workers having a good laugh about some aspect of their deployment and enjoying the relaxation that comes with laughter. I am coming down to the end of my rotation here in Houston, and as expected, the one constant that I have experienced here is change.
True to that, we found out today that we are closing down this Disaster Response HQ and moving to another location, to allow the local Houston chapter of the Amercian Red Cross to use their disaster building for the needs from the immediate area.
I am taking a trip down to Galveston tomorrow to check out our shelter there and gather some information to allow it to run more efficiently. We consider Galveston to be a real hardship posting: no water, no sewer, etc, etc…. so I am hoping that at some point, I will be able to coax the volunteers down there to laugh with me.
Derrick Harvey
Canadian Red Cross in Houston, Texas
6 responses so far ↓
1 Martha in Manchester // Oct 20, 2008 at 7:06 pm
What a great approach Derrick Harvey has taken…I think it’s simply brilliant. He made some good points using humor and probably cheered up more people than he knows. Three cheers for the good work Derrick and all the other dedicated volunteers who use all their skills to do what it takes to get communities and individuals up on their feet.
2 Teresa Gretton // Oct 20, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Hats off to Derrick Harvey from Canada. There is a national/international organization called Red Nose Response which spreads “smiles to the rescue.” They are clowns who use soft assistance in their comic techniques not only to those affected by the disasters but also the workers and many are Red Cross volunteers.
3 HOWARD // Oct 20, 2008 at 10:55 pm
ATTITUDE IS THE KEY .. TO EVERY PROBLEM. HUMOR/(& MUSIC) GIVES A POSITIVE LIFT TO ANY SITUATION. A GOOD LAUGH - SEE THE HUMOR IN EVEN THE MOST NEGATIVE - AND LIFE LOOKS A LITTLE BETTER - SO WE CAN TACKLE - AND OVERCOME -EVEN THE WORST!!!.
4 Barbara // Oct 21, 2008 at 4:08 pm
My time at the mega shelter in Houston was the happiest time. I spent time making my co-volunteers laugh. They thought I was little nuts - but we all worked hard and had a good time. I will volunteer again in a moments notice.
5 gigi Acevedo // Oct 21, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Well..Kudos to you, Derrick…..I have to share …..I had the great fortune of working with you, during this (IKE-Texas)deployment…and you were a real pleasure to interface with. I appreciated your willingness to always be of service and during that committment to ensure that we all had a good “Team” laugh!……You and your entire MSS staffers, under the leadership of “Bev” were truly an asset and you made the long hours and my job….at LSAP a unique pleasure……..Thanks for sharing your
Red Cross humor and wisdom with us………
……gigi
6 Julianne Hasten // Oct 22, 2008 at 9:15 pm
As a former Americorps member with the Western Il chapter of ARC, and a current nurse in geriatrics I wish more people were able to embrace Derrick’s approach. Some of the tried and true axioms just don’t hold water in times of tragedy, ie: count your blessings, it could be worse, pull yourself up by your bootstraps…. However, humor can always be a place of solace. If you can make someone giggle through their tears you have accomplished something that is immeasurable in value. You can not fake a giggle or a good belly laugh. Try it. you can’t! The feeling is so good and contagious. It can immediately lift the weight, even if onle for a minute, and allow our bootstraps to come up a bit by themselves and let us take hold of a better perspective. On my way to work one morning a young girl rolled her car on the interstate. While the other onlookers (another nurse and a trucker) looked on comparing stories on what they saw, I went to the girl in the ditch and flicked the crickets from her face. While waiting for the ambulance I reassured her I was a nurse and asked her not to move or talk. She had a tear roll down her face, I told her that it would be okay, because any minute there was going to be some really good looking paramedics and firemen descending upon her all to help her. Her eyebrows went up, I said “Oh you didn’t know that? All the firemen are hot and muscular and the paramedics are cute and smart.” She started to laugh and I continued to chat about different paramedics and firemen I knew and girl stuff and she giggled her way through the time she spent on the side of the interstate in the ditch until the cute paramedics arrived. I like to think she could have been terrified but wasn’t because we laughed together and it distracted her from the situation at hand. It is not a bad thing to laugh at a funeral, either. Derrick is a stand-up guy, pardon the pun. The ARC is lucky to be able to send him where his approach is needed and able to be learned by others!!
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